The Second Time Around
by heartarrow56
Summary: Her world was destroyed by darkness. Well, what else is new? It was bound to happen again anyway. If she can't live a irritation free life, the least she can do is make life irritating for everyone else.
1. Chapter 1

CH. 1: Here we go Again

"Aya! Aya! Get your lazy ass out of bed!" A woman's voice called out. In a room not too far from the woman laid a girl with purple hair that is normally down to right above her hips but now is too frazzled to get past her shoulders. The woman banged on the door to the room. "Aya! You're gonna be late for school!" The girl, Aya, rolled over.

"Would you be quiet you loud gorilla woman!" Aya replied. The woman banged harder.

"Get your ass up! I gotta take your lazy ass to school!" Aya sat up.

"You're saying it as if me not getting up is inconveniencing you when in reality, me going to school inconvenient. You can just go to work now instead of wasting your time taking me." The woman stepped back a bit.

"Wha-? Grrrr…" She proceeded in kicking the door down. "Get up you worthless piece of crap!" The woman saw that Aya had her hair braided and her school uniform on. She had her backpack over her shoulder and a smug look on her face.

"What do you mean? I've been ready for thirty minutes." Aya lied. She's just really good at putting things off until the last minute. Aya walked past the woman. "Oh, and you don't have to take me to school. I'm sixteen. I can walk. I should walk you across the street old lady." The woman was about to respond when she heard the front door close. The woman's face turned red with frustration.

"That girl and her SMART ASS MOUTH!"

Aya walked down the sidewalk bordering a lake. She couldn't help but remember when she was younger; she almost drowned in the same waters. She was only a year younger, but whatever. She sighed at the though.

"Worst. Summer. Ever." She stated. She also remembered that it was around this time of year when she was thrown into another world. Her home world was destroyed by some strange dark cloud that took everything in sight. She then awoke at a place that looked like a small town at night. Apparently, the place was called Traverse Town. Some nice people had helped her when she noticed something they called a 'Gummi Ship'. They explained that they were used to travel different worlds. Lucky for her, she found a ship called 'Pimp'. Even more convenient, there was an instruction manual and keys. She thought it was too convenient, but frankly, she didn't care. Not caring was probably stupid, for she began to hurl towards an unknown world. Just like that, she was in this world. She wanted to get back home, but she wasn't in any particular rush. It's not like she could blast off into space and go to another world like she did a few years back. She sighed once again. "I wonder what happened to that ship…" She continued her slow walk towards her school.

The sky was getting darker as she neared the school. She quietly cursed herself for not bringing an umbrella. The closer she got, the more the sky turned into a purplish-black puffy cloud. Aya paid it no mind. Her main focus was to get to school before the rain poured down on her. The wind picked up, making the journey to school even more difficult.

"What the hell is up with this storm? It wasn't even supposed to rain today! Stupid weather man." She was then overwhelmed with a nostalgic feeling. "Hmm…why does this feel familiar? I feel as if I was just thinking about it…" She then saw the lamp posts and benches getting sucked into the ominous cloud along with chunks of land. Her face filled with dread. "Oh yeah, now I remember." Suddenly, a person in a black coat and a black hood appeared before her.

"The connection has been made." The person said. Aya raised her hand signaling him to stop.

"Save it. I've been down this road before. You're probably gonna tell me that the door to this world has been opened by the darkness and that darkness will eventually engulf and destroy everything. Am I right?" The person in the black coat sweatdropped.

"Hey! Those are my lines! My lines! Let me talk!" The person, who sounded like a sixteen year old boy, commanded. Aya scoffed.

"You've talked plenty. Why don't we cut to the chase? Why is this world getting destroyed?" She wondered. The boy laughed as a dark corridor appeared behind him.

"I guess you don't know everything. See ya." He stepped through the portal that soon after disappeared. Aya shook her head.

"Grow up." She braced herself as her world was destroyed by darkness…again.

Aya awoke in an unfamiliar setting. The sky resembled the sun dawning. It had hues of purple and slight orange. She would've liked to marvel at the beautiful buildings and scenery, but a throbbing pain in her head decided for her. She staggered to her feet and attempted to walk, not having much luck. She immediately bumped into somebody.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to bump into the blind." She instinctively said sarcastically.

"It is you. I recognize that sarcasm anywhere." Aya's blurry sight finally cleared up to see a man with brown hair and a jacket that had a furry hood. A scar covered his face in a slash form and he had a gunblade in hand. She stared at him.

"Who are you?" She asked blankly. The man sweatdropped.

"You're kidding." He said. Aya continued to stare at him, giving him the "I don't know you" look.

"Hey Leon! What're you doing!" A shorter girl with short black hair and an outfit, and weapon, which resembled that of a ninja, appeared from out of nowhere. A bell rang in Aya's head.

"Yuffie! How's it going?" Aya wondered, disregarding the blank look on Leon's face. The girl approached them.

"Is that Aya? It's been awhile!" Yuffie responded.

"You remember her but not me…" Leon stated more than he asked. Aya turned to him.

"I still don't know you." She said as flatly as the first. Leon shook his head.

"But more important matters…" A man with blond hair and a cigarette in his mouth approached the group. "Where's that Gummi Ship that ya stole?" He asked firmly. Aya's spirit might as well have turned to stone. She remembered that he was the one who told her about Gummi Ships back at Traverse Town. Also the one she _borrowed_ a Gummi Ship from. Playing dumb seemed to be the best and only option.

"I'm…I don't know what you're talking about?" She gave a false coy look with a touch of innocence. Obviously, she wasn't believed.

"I don't wanna hear it! You stole my Gummi Ship!" Cid glared at her. "This is why I don't deal with kids." Aya personally didn't appreciate him calling her a kid.

"Look Cid, I had full intentions on bringing that Gummi ship back! It's not my fault the stupid thing crashed then disappeared! What was that ship called…Pimp?" She was then met with the wide eyes of the three in front of her.

"You…killed Pimp." Yuffie solemnly spoke.

"Not Pimp…" Leon followed suit.

"Pimp was a good Gummi ship…" Cid melancholically stated. Aya sweatdropped at their sudden change of emotions.

"Um…sorry? I didn't know Pimp was so important." Aya apologized half-heartedly. Leon shook his head.

"Whatever. Now, why are you here?" Leon questioned. Aya smiled.

"What? Not happy to see me?" Leon made what seemed like a shadow of a smirk.

"Hardly." He retorted. Aya chuckled.

"My world was destroyed. Not anything new, right?" She inquired. Leon pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Who would've thought it would be this smart-mouthed kid who would verify our suspicions?" Aya was curious.

"Suspicions? What do you mean?" Leon glanced at Yuffie. She nodded.

"We heard that some form of darkness is threatening the worlds again. The heartless number started to grow and these white things appeared too. Your world getting destroyed…again…basically told us we were right to be worried." Aya raised her hand.

"What Aya?" Leon called on her.

"Doesn't that sound a little cliché? I mean, it's been done before. Haven't you ever read one of those Kingdom Hearts Fan Fictions that are so predictable?" Aya protested.

"What?" Leon wondered.

"Nothing." Aya quickly stated. Leon brushed it off.

"You should probably stay with Merlin and Aerith for the time─"

"No." Aya interrupted him.

"What?" Leon asked, yet he heard her clearly.

"I said no. I wanna help. You're not gonna leave me here, I'm bored." Leon shook his head.

"No. It's too dangerous. You can't defend yourself; you'd only get yourself killed." Leon denied her. Aya pouted.

"You don't know that. I'm a very skilled fighter." She stretched her arm out to emphasize her fighting abilities. "I bet I could take you down with these fists." She smirked, fairly confident in her two year background in hapkido. Leon gazed at her forebodingly. He then gripped his gun blade into offensive mode.

"Alright, I'll give you a test run. Let's see if you can prove to me your "skills"." Leon jeered. A pretty one-sided fight broke out with Leon, of course, going easy on her. Leon used the dull side of his gun blade to knock Aya on her back. She slowly sat up, wincing in pain.

"Yeah, I think we can call it a draw. I don't want to hurt you anymore, so I'll just be takin' a Gummi Ship and flying out of here!" Aya stated. Yuffie laughed.

"A tie? Leon kicked your butt!" Yuffie tried to keep her laughing under wraps while Aya glared at her.

"No way. You're gonna have to stay here for the time being." Aya was about to protest, but then stopped. She gave the counterfeit look of being disappointed.

"Alright…just take me to Merlin's house so I can live my pitiful existence." She then let out an over exaggerated sigh.

"Right." Leon said, indifferent. "Let's go." Leon and the others led Aya to Merlin's house. As she walked in, she noticed that no one was there. "Aerith must be getting groceries or something." Leon decided.

"And who knows where Merlin is." Yuffie chimed in. Aya schemed as she found a room.

"I'm gonna stay here for the rest of the day." Aya announced. She noticed that it was late, despite the fact that it looked like dawn outside. Maybe it was dusk? Whatever. Leon and Yuffie nodded as they left the room. Aya laid in her new bed and thought. She tended to just stop whatever she's doing and think. Once it got dark enough outside, Aya climbed out the window.

"They're probably on patrol for these "heartless" things." She whispered. She then laughed to herself. "If they were killing heartless in my world, everyone would be dead." She sneaked behind Cid's shop and saw a very small junkyard of broken beyond repair Gummi Ships. One however stood out among the rest. She read the side of the Gummi Ship. "Pimp 2. Huh." She stepped inside to see, yet again, keys and an instruction manual. "Seriously, who is leaving these things?" She put the keys in ignition and started the engine.

"What in sam hell!" Cid shouted as the ship rose into the air. The ship the clumsily shot into space.

"What's going on?" Leon questioned the irritated Cid, although he already had an idea. Cid sighed.

"She stole a Gummi Ship again."

**A.N- And that's it for chapter one! If you're wondering why the names of the Gummi Ships were 'Pimp' and 'Pimp 2', it actually has some history. My brothers were playing KH and I was watching. They named the ship they made 'Pimp' and right before they saved, my toe accidently pushed the power button. The fact that the game turned off symbolized the crash. The fact that they didn't save symbolized the disappearance. They then made 'Pimp 2' in its stead. And that's the history! I hope you all continue to read this story and please review! See ya soon! Bye Mee! ^o^**


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N- Hey! I'm back for another chapter! Thanks for the review and everything else! I hope you continue to support me! I'm sort of making this story up as I go, so I hope it doesn't seem like too many plot holes! Well, not much to talk about, so here's the story! Read, enjoy, and review!**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Kingdom Hearts…I'll just go back to my poor existence…**

**Claimer: I do own Aya, Kaim, and any other OC that appears in this story!**

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><p><span>CH. 2: To Infinity…and Beyond!<span>

Aya sat in the surprisingly spacious Gummi Ship. She grinnedat her own cunning.

"I'm so smart. They didn't even see it coming. Take that…um…not Yuffie…not Cid…"

"Leon."

"Yeah! Take that Leon!" Aya then froze. She turned to see Leon on the screen of her ship. "Hey, what's up?" She asked nonchalantly. A vein popped on Leon's head.

"What's up? That Gummi Ship that isn't supposed to be in the air is 'What's up'." Aya frowned.

"There were keys and an instruction manual in here. You guys were practically asking me to take it. Besides," She flashed a smile. "I think I proved myself by sneaking into this ship, 'Pimp 2'." Leon looked surprised.

"You took Pimp 2? Are you asking for a death sentence?" Leon shouted. Aya was taken aback.

"What! This thing's a defect!" Aya panicked.

"What? No. I mean…I'm gonna kill you when you get back!" Aya cringed.

"Oh! Will you look at the time, it seems like I gotta go!" Aya made her way to the control panel.

"Don't you turn that screen off!" Leondemanded.

"See ya!" Aya pressed the button, turning off her and Leon's conversation. She sighed with relief. "Okay…how is this supposed to work?"

* * *

><p>Sora, a keyblade wielder, Donald, a duck mage, and Goofy, an oversized dog that uses a shield, flew in their Gummi Ship recently given to them by the great sorcerer, Yen Sid.<p>

"So where are we going?" Sora wondered. Donald gazed at the screen.

"It looks like we're heading towards Hollow Bastion!" Donald determined. Sora seemed elated.

"That's where Leon and the others live!" Sora exclaimed.

"I wonder how everybody's doin'!" Goofy chimed in. Suddenly, a Gummi Ship clumsily zoomed by them, just barely missing them.

"Hey! What's the big idea!" Donald fumed.

"That was a close one! A-hyuk!" Goofy pointed out.

"Yeah, too close for comfort! I wonder what _that_ was about." Sora said as he tried to see the other Gummi Ship through the window. He shook his head. "We'll have to ask Leon, 'because I think we're here!" The three of them looked to see the world of Hollow Bastion. They landed their Gummi Ship in a hub and walked to find Merlin's house, assuming everyone would be there. They then spotted a couple of soldier heartless on a rooftop. Sora sighed.

"I guess we're fighting." Donald and Goofy hung their heads down with dread. They followed the direction the heartless went to see some beams of light take the heartless out. The three were, to say the least, curious.

"What d'ya think that was?" Goofy inquired.

"It's the towns Claymore system!" A voice called out. Sora looked up to see Yuffie.

"Yuffie!" Sora exclaimed. Yuffie grinned.

"Sora! Long time no see!" She replied just as enthusiastically. "I had a feeling I would see you again!" Sora hovered his hand over his face.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." Sora mimicked in a slightly deeper voice.

"Was that supposed to be Leon?" She asked. Sora grinned with pride. The four took part in some small talk about how the town looks better and such. "Oh! I'll take you to Leon and the others! They're at Merlin's house!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed Yuffie when Sora remembered something.

"Oh yeah! There was a Gummi Ship that came from here. What was that about?"

"Yeah! It almost crashed into us!" Donald complained. Yuffie sweatdropped.

"I think I'll let Leon explain that one…" She trailed off. Sora brushed it off as they approached Merlin's house.

"Let me introduce to you, the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" Yuffie announced as she swung the door open. In the room were Leon, Aerith, Cid, and Merlin.

"You're back!" Aerith said in her soft yet strict voice.

"I knew it." Leon stated matter-of-factly.

"You knew?" Sora inquired. Leon closed his eyes.

"Because, after a while, everyone suddenly started to remember you guys." Sora thought a moment before getting offended.

"Wait…you forgot about us!" Leon shrugged.

"It couldn't be helped." Before anyone said anything, Yuffie cleared her throat. Sora pounded his fist on his hand.

"Oh yeah! Leon, there was a Gummi Ship that was leaving here that almost crashed into us! Do you know anything about that?" Sora asked. Leon sighed with disdain.

"A girl named Aya stole it because we wouldn't let her help in restoring the worlds. I still can't believe…never mind. It's not the first time. I'd rather not get into that."

"Can't we just talk to her on the video thingy?" Goofy suggested.

"We could try, but she already hung up on me once." Leon admitted. Sora smiled.

"Then we'll just try again!"

* * *

><p>Aya relaxed in the pilot's seat eating some food in the surprisingly spacious ship.<p>

"Mmm! This food is great! Too bad I couldn't try it the first time I was on a Gummi Ship!" Aya complimented.

"Enjoying yourself?" A voice came from behind her. She hastily turned, food hanging out of her mouth, to see the boy in the black coat.

"Hey! What're you doing here?" It was silent for a moment. "I heard of stalkers, but this is taking it too far!" The boy seemed irritated.

"Is that any way to talk to someone who got you this Gummi Ship!" The boy retaliated. Aya paused.

"You left the key and manual?" The boy nodded. She thought for a moment. "So you snuck into Merlin's house and stole the keys? I knew you were a stalker, but I never would've guessed you were a suspect for breaking and entering!" She grinned. "And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" The boy reluctantly took his hood off to reveal a sixteen year old with scarlet hair that was down to right above his shoulders. A small strand of hair on the back of his head went down to the middle of his back. His eyes were a slightly brighter version of his hair color and showed an irritated expression. His skin was the color of burnt caramel. Aya's dark brown eyes and the boy's light scarlet eyes met in a stare down. He smirked.

"The name's Kaim. Consider me your fairy godfather." Aya laughed.

"Yeah, whatever stalker." Kaim laughed. She turned to see the monitor starting to turn on. She turned back to see Kaim was gone.

"Hey thief, can you hear me?" Aya looked at the screen to see Leon, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all staring at her. She seemed confused.

"…Who are you guys?" Leon face palmed. She then noticed Sora. "Woah! What happened to your hair! Did you rub a balloon over your head until the static made it explode!" Sora touched his hair.

"Hey! Don't talk about my hair!" Sora argued defensively. Aya noticed that his hair was naturally like that.

"Eh heh…sorry." She apologized sheepishly.

"Where are you?" Leon asked. Suddenly, the Gummi Ship bumped into what could be compared to an invisible wall. Once Aya recovered, she turned to the screen.

"Hey! What's up! I can't go anywhere!"

"That's because I have to unlock the roads to each world." Sora explained. "Right now, all the worlds are disconnected." Aya puffed her cheeks.

"How am I supposed to save the worlds if I can't get to them!" Leon shook his head.

"You don't. Bring the ship back here and _stay_ here." Leon demanded. Aya crossed her arms.

"No. I don't feel like it. Besides, I don't know how to work this thing." Leon turned to Sora.

"Could you help her when you all go back out?" Donald did his…duck call I think.

"No way! We don't have time to deal with her!" Donald denied.

"Come on Donald! She looks like she needs our help!" Goofy tried to convince.

"Yeah. We'll do what we have to do here, go help her when we leave, then be on our way!" Sora assured him. Donald reluctantly agreed. Sora gave a thumbs up to Aya. "We'll help you in a bit. Just wait a little while!" Sora said to the irritated Aya.

"Yeah, so stay _RIGHT_ there." Leon emphasized. The screen turned to static. Aya sat down and sighed in frustration.

"Geez…what am I supposed to do now…?" She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I'll go look for the stalker." She rose from her seat and searched around. After searching for what seemed like hours, she finally gave up and went back to the pilot's seat. On the screen, a world popped up. There was a mountain like thing in the background. Underneath the image, it asked, "Set course for this world?". Not knowing what to press, Aya simply shouted "yes". The Gummi Ship set itself to autopilot and started once again to move. Aya felt a bit of pride and success with 'Pimp 2'. She reclined in her chair when suddenly, the ship was attacked. She shot up to see platforms and other ships in the way. She grabbed the manual and skimmed for the artillery section. Once she found it, she corresponded the picture in the book to the actual controls.

"Alright, goin' back to Galaga!" She shouted. The ship continued to move forward as she shot down her enemies. Of course, she wasn't able to dodge their attacks, but they could dodge hers. Obviously, playing all those video games and taking rifle classes really helped with her aim. Just as the light blinked telling Aya she was about to go down, the world appeared before her. She clenched her fist in victory. "Yes! I am so badass! Who can't defend herself?"

"Aya!" A familiar voice called her name. She looked towards the screen to see Leon once again.

"Will you leave me alone stranger! I'll call the police!"

"Wha─?" Never mind. I thought I told you to stay put." Leon retorted.

"It wasn't my fault," Aya started innocently, "The Gummi Ship practically moved itself!" Leon pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Where are you?" He asked. Then, out of nowhere, the ship started flashing red. On the screen over Leon's face read the words,

"ERROR. TECHNICAL MALFUNCTIONS. INSUFFICIANT FUEL SUPPLY. DAMAGE TO OUTER AND INNER SHIELDS. ANY FURTHER DAMAGE OR CONTINUAL FLYING WILL RESULT IN A CRASH." Aya and Leon sweatdropped.

"…I gotta go." Aya stated flatly. Before Leon could say anything, she pressed the button and pulled out the cords.

"DAMAGE IN COCKPIT. SHUTTING DOWN." The screen reported.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Aya cursed. Before she knew it, Pimp 2 was hurling down towards the Land of Dragons.

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><p><strong>A.N- And that's it for chapter 2! It took a while to type because of school and all. Can't type nothing around these immature people. I should have the next chapter out by next week at the latest. So thanks for reading and please review! Bye Mee! ^o^ <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N- Here's another chapter from yours truly! Not much to say but thanks for the review and review some more! Here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Square Enix or Walt Disney Corporation.**

**Claimer: I do own Aya and the other OCs that will appear in this story.**

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><p><span>CH. 3: No Girls Allowed<span>

Aya fluttered her eyes open to see an oversized dog looking down on her. She sighed heavily and muttered to herself, "Another weird dream. Dogs are supposed to walk on four legs, not two." She tried to roll over and close her eyes again but that was interrupted by the dog _actually _speaking.

"Guys! I think she's wakin' up!"

In surprise, she shot up to see the three guys that had been on the screen of her Gummi Ship before standing around her.

"You're alive!" Sora exclaimed, obviously amazed but also sounding somewhat pleased and happy about it as well, as if he really cared about what happened to her.

Donald stomped over to where she was sitting, and, for no apparent reason, he hit her on the head with his staff. "What do you think you're doing!" he shouted in his duck speech which was harder to understand, but not impossible.

Aya rubbed the bump on her head, wincing slightly as her fingers traced across the now sensitive spot. "I should be asking you this," She stated with mild anger."You're the one who just came and wacked me upside my head!"

Sora walked up to her, wearing a worried expression plain on his face as he asked, "Why didn't you stay put? We thought you'd been destroyed by the Heartless!"

Confused at that statement, Aya held her hand up and said, "Hold on, rewind. The Heartless have Gummi Ships?" she asked incredulous. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all nodded as if it was a normal part of life. Aya shook her head. "Whatever." She accepted Sora's hand of help and was pulled to her feet. Smoothing the wrinkles out of her clothes, she said, "I finally got out of that…" She glanced finally and found that they were all standing in a forest of some kind. Rising up into the sky not too far from where they stood was smoke and, without hesitation, as her thoughts rushed to her lost ship, she darted towards the smoke crying out, "Pimp 2!"

"Wait! Aya!" Sora called out to no avail because Aya was already long gone.

"That girl is a handful," Donald complained.

"Uh, should we go after her?" Goofy wondered.

Sora sighed. "Yeah, we probably should." But first, he turned the opposite way as he remembered why they had come in the first place. "But let's take care of this keyhole first." Donald and Goofy agreed as they followed Sora.

* * *

><p>What Aya mistook as smoke from her Gummi Ship was in reality smoke from a campsite and a fairly large one at that. Curious—and she didn't really have anything better to do seeing as she had no idea where Pimp 2 could possibly be—she started to enter the camp when she overheard a conversation of two men just inside the gates. "Hey, have you ever wondered why girls aren't allowed to join the army?" one man asked. The other man laughed heartily.<p>

"Because women can't handle war! They should leave the fighting to the men and have a hot meal when I get home!"

A vein popped on Aya's head as she wondered what kind of backward place she had managed to land (or crash, depending on your point of view) herself in this time. "Yeah, that plate of hot food will be smashed over that fat head of yours!" she whispered to herself. She decided that going in looking like…well, a girl wasn't the best choice. She pulled off her bag she conveniently had and pulled out a comb and a ponytail holder. "I guess I'll have to do something about this!" She also pulled out her sewing kit and scissors she always had and began altering her uniform. Once she felt enough preparations were made, she stood up straight and walked into the campgrounds. Apparently she fit in, because no one gave her a second look. She noticed that everyone was forming a line, so she decided to head there herself. Almost as soon as she got in line, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and some other feminine looking guy strolled in. _Crap, why here?_ She complained to herself, hoping they wouldn't notice her.

They steadily approached the line when a short, fat guy deliberately pushed them out of the way. "Man, it's about time they got some grub," the guy stated.

Sora seemed a bit irritated. "Hey! No cutting!" he shouted. Aya face palmed. _Did he really just complain about someone cutting in line? How old are we—five? _Aya thought rhetorically. Soon, out of nowhere, the guy punched Sora, causing Donald to jump in the fray along with some other random guy. Of course, Aya had to say something.

"Look, two tons. Just because he can see his toes and you can't doesn't give the motive for violence. I suggest you─" The guy punched her as well. A vein, and also a death cloud, appeared on Aya's head.

"Shaddup!" The man said in his annoying, raspy voice. "Who are you anyway?"

Aya grinned maniacally. "Zhao of the Wong family," she made up on the spot before she continued, "the one who's gonna kick your ass. How's it going?" She shot up and joined Sora and Donald in the brawl.

"Please!" A feminine voice called out finally called out. Everyone stopped and looked at the "guy" Sora and the others had brought with them.

"Please?" A tall, skinny guy who joined the fight questioned.

"What a girl," the fat, stubby man jeered. The "man" cleared his throat.

"I-I mean, knock it off! We should just get back in line!" he said in a slightly deeper voice.

"Whose side are you on?" Sora protested.

"Tsk, I'm pretty sure the sign said, 'do not feed the zoo animals'," Aya chimed in, aiming the insult towards the short man in an attempt for one more slur.

"Soldiers! Back in line!" Instantly, everyone snapped back into a single file line. Sora did one of those fake punches towards that guy I don't feel like saying the name to. Let's call him Guy 1. Yeah, that'll work. Anyway, Aya grumbled to herself. The man who commanded everyone was none other than Shang, a man who introduced himself as the Captain. Aya tuned him out as he gave them a short lecture. The lecture was cut even shorter when some Heartless showed up.

"What are these things?" The guy who Aya found out later was named Ping asked. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ping, and Aya got in battle stances.

"Heartless!" answered Sora. "We'll take care of them! Get ready, Ping!" Guy 1 and two others ran away like cowards. Aya shook her head. She decided to use two pencils that were in her bag and held them like knives. Ping just looked awkward. Aya and the others made quick work of the heartless. Then they turned to Shang.

"You three show great promise. Are you enlisting in the army?" he inquired, referring to Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"No, we're here 'because we heard there was a party." Aya retorted. Shang glared at her, signaling her to shut up.

"Yeah, we're here with Ping!" Goofy told him.

"We couldn't have taken out those Heartless without him!" Donald added.

Aya cleared her throat. They glanced at her. "I was here, too." Aya stated in an only slightly deeper voice.

"What was it…Zhao?" Sora wondered, looking genuinely confused. It was then that Aya realized that he didn't actually recognize her. Aya nodded, grinning wildly on the inside that her deception was working out pretty well. "Zhao helped out too…I guess."

"I'm not sure if Ping has what it takes to be in the army." Shang retorted coldly and bluntly.

Sora crossed his arms behind his head. "You take one of us, you take all of us." Donald and Goofy stood next to Sora and Ping. Aya crossed her arms and went next to them. They glanced at her strangely, but then let it go. Seeing how there was no other way, Shang sighed.

"I'll give Ping three tasks. If you pass them, I'll allow you to join the army."

Aya nodded for Ping. "We should go with him so we can report all the details!" Aya determined. Shang apparently felt this was a good idea, for he agreed. He explained the three tasks and once he finished, the five were on their way.

* * *

><p>Aya walked next to Ping on the trail. She made them a whispering distance. "So you're pretending to be a boy too?" she asked the "man" nonchalantly.<p>

Ping seemed taken aback by the accusation before stuttering with a semi-deep voice, "Um…n-no! What made you think that?"

Aya chuckled. "Call it woman's intuition." Ping seemed to think about that for a moment. When Ping didn't say anything for a few moments, Aya continued. "Besides, it wasn't hard to figure it out. I could tell a mile away."

"R-Really!" Ping shouted.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy glanced back at them. "What's wrong?" Sora asked.

Ping looked a bit nervous. "Is it really that obvious that I'm a girl?" Ping glanced at Aya who had a blank look on her face.

"What? Did Zhao tell you that?" Sora asked. Ping nodded.

"Don't tell anyone!" Donald commanded at Aya.

Aya grinned. "Oh, you guys know me! I wouldn't do that…" Aya said breezily. "_Without an adequate pay of course,"_ she said under her breath.

"What?" Sora asked.

"Nothing," Aya quipped.

Goofy scratched his head. "But uh…we don't know you, Zhao." Goofy acknowledged.

Aya couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. "You really can't tell?" She cleared her throat and repeated her statement from earlier, "_What happened to your hair? Did you rub a balloon over your head until the static caused it to explode?_" It didn't take Sora long to put two and two together.

"Aya! Is that you!" he asked.

She gave a peace sign. "Took you long enough!" she responded.

"I thought you were lookin' for your Gummi Ship," Goofy pointed out.

Aya froze for a few seconds remembering that _was _what she had been looking for before being dragged not-really-involuntarily into helping Ping and the gang. "Aw crap! I forgot!" she exclaimed, but then paused for a moment as she remembered something else. "It's probably that Kaim guy's fault…" she muttered.

"Who?" Sora questioned.

"There was a guy in my ship. He said his name was Kaim and he was wearing a black coat with a black hood," Aya explained.

"Organization XIII!" Donald realized.

"He was on your ship?" Sora inquired.

Aya sighed. "First of all, yes, I just said that. Second of all, what's this talk about an Organization?" Aya wondered. Sora explained to Aya what Nobodies were and that there's a strong group of them that reign control over all the lesser Nobodies. Their name was Organization XIII. He told her that the members of the Organization wear black coats with black hoods.

Aya nodded her head, trying to understand the situation. "So you're telling me that the guy that was on my ship…was a Nobody?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all nodded their heads in unison. Aya contemplated that. "Maybe black coats are in this year," she suggested quite seriously. Sora seemed taken aback.

"This is serious!" Donald protested.

Aya waved her hand dismissively. "I'm kidding," Aya assured halfheartedly. "Besides, he disappeared right before you guys called me. He's probably long gone."

Sora sighed. "Aw man, that could've been a good chance to interrogate him," he complained.

"Um…I'm not exactly sure what you all are talking about…" Ping started meekly. Everyone glanced at her, forgetting that she was still there. "But if you get discouraged, all you need is for your friends to cheer you on, and to keep pushing forward!"

Sora seemed encouraged by the words and tightened his hands into a fist. "Yeah, you're right! We'll have a chance to worry about that later. Besides, we have other things to focus on, like getting Ping into the army!" Everyone nodded in agreement as they followed Sora. Nothing too interesting occurred during the three tasks Shang assigned them—only a fair share of complaints about Pimp 2 from Aya, an unrealistic dash of optimism from Sora, and cautiousness from Ping. That's pretty much all you heard other than Donald occasionally putting his two cents in. Once the tasks were complete, everyone regrouped.

"So, where to next?" Aya inquired.

"We should probably head back to the camp and report to the captain." Ping informed. The five made their way back to the camp.

* * *

><p>Kaim watched Aya and the others from a tree right above her partially destroyed Gummi Ship. He gazed spitefully at them as they disappeared into the camp. "Ungrateful witch. After all the things I did for her, she still doesn't remember me!" he complained. Suddenly, a dark corridor appeared behind him. He glanced back to see a man in an identical attire such as himself. This man, however, had his hood up to hide his identity.<p>

"You sure are doing a lot for that girl. She doesn't even appear to be appreciating your efforts," the man stated.

Kaim examined him then turned back around. "She's always been like that, sarcastic and ungrateful." The man was silent. Kaim glared at him. "So, who are you?" he asked.

The man seemed taken aback by the question. "I should be asking the imposter wearing our coats," the man retaliated.

Kaim looked down at his black coat. "This? I only wore it because black coats are in this year," he answered just as seriously as Aya had.

"Hmm…" The man thought intently for a moment. "Don't you wish she would remember? It must be frustrating to know someone important to you has no idea who you are."

Kaim tried to hide the fact that what the man was saying bothered him. "What do you want?" he questioned.

"I wish to help you…" the man started. Kaim gazed skeptically at him. "Of course, to receive what you wish, you have to do some work for me." Kaim seemed to thoroughly contemplate the offer. What could a stranger have to bid?

* * *

><p>Shang ordered Sora, Aya, and the others to some mission in the mountains. Aya wasn't really sure what the details were on the mission. She was too busy thinking about how to get one of those black coats for her own. Aya just subconsciously followed Sora when her skin suddenly met with frigid, cold air. She immediately stopped in place as she looked around.<p>

"Why the hell are we on a mountain?" Aya questioned.

"Weren't you listening?" Donald asked. Aya simply shrugged her shoulders. "We're supposed to be searching for Shan Yu!"

"Who?" Aya asked.

"The leader of the Huns?" Sora reiterated. Aya shook her head. They all face palmed at her and obviously didn't feel the need to elaborate any further. They knew she wouldn't listen. They trekked up the mountain for what seemed like hours to Aya.

"Why did he send us here? Do I look like an Eskimo?" Aya muttered to herself, slightly shivering. They took care of a few Heartless along the way with no problems. Then, much to Aya's dismay, Sora had the nerve, the gall, the **_audacity_** to ask about her pencils as weapon choices.

"Hey, why are you fighting with pencils? Do they work?" A vein popped on Aya's head as she glared at him. Sora slightly cringed.

"Well, sorry I don't have a weapon that magically appears like yours. Hey, maybe if I try hard enough, I can get a weapon that _makes_ doors instead of locking them," Aya retorted.

Sora crossed his arms in defiance. "Geez, no need to be a jerk."

Aya scoffed. "That's what you get for questioning me in the cold."

Sora said nothing, still holding his child-like grudge. Aya seemed to forget about the whole argument.

"Look up there!" Donald shouted. Everyone directed their attention to where Donald was pointing at to see Shan Yu lined horizontally with a long line of Heartless.

"Yay, they fly." Aya commented disdainfully. "Maybe we can poke ourselves in the eyes and add more fun." The others weren't listening; for they were too busy trying to devise a plan. Suddenly, Guy 1 and two others bumped Ping and Sora out of their way.

"Move aside! We'll handle this!" Guy 1 stated as he and the others set up what I assume to be firecrackers. Ping suddenly had an idea and took the firecrackers from them.

"Sorry!" Ping placed the firecracker in the ground and aimed it not at Shan Yu, but at a miniature hill looming over him. "I need something to light this…" She then glanced to see her dragon family guardian, Mushu.

"Oh, no. I don't know what you're thinking but─!" Mushu was cut off when Ping took his tail and pulled it, causing him to spit out fire. Mushu landed on the firecracker as it took off. "You're going the wrong waaaaaay!" The firecracker made impact with the hill. At first, nothing happened. Aya stared blankly at the hill for the longest before the ground began to shake. Everyone looked around in confusion when suddenly; snow was visible plummeting down the mountain. Aya's face turned pale.

"AVALANCHE!"

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><p><strong>A.N- And that's it! This chapter was way longer than anything I ever wrote! Anywho, thanks for reading and please review! See ya next time! Bye Mee! ^o^<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**A.N- It's me again! Sorry if my updates are kinda slow. I have another fanfiction I'm working on and it takes a little more time to write and type than this one. Please review some more and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: You guys already know I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney in any way, shape, or form.**

**Claimer: I do own Aya and any other OC that shows up!**

CH. 4: The Truth is Revealed! Who would've Guessed?

Shang appeared on the mountain with confusion. "What's going on here?" he questioned. Without hesitation, Ping grabbed Shang's arm and pulled him down the mountain.

"Run like hell!" Aya shouted, darting after Ping and Shang. Sora and the others seemed to take the hint, also running down. The avalanche consumed Shan Yu and all the Heartless.

Aya stopped for nothing and no one as she bolted down the mountain. The wave of snow buried her right as she reached the bottom. The snow buried her up to her face. It was silent…

"Aya! Where are you!" Sora called out. Donald, Goofy, and himself searched for Aya in the snow. Shang and Ping seemed to be having their own conversation.

"Thanks, Ping," Shang thanked.

"N-No, it was nothing," Ping attempted to sound like a man.

"I shouldn't have ever doubted you. From now on, you have my trust," he told her.

"Th-Thank you, Captain!" she replied. Then, out of a pile of snow, Mushu walked out brushing his self off.

"First, she uses me as a match, then a cannonball? The head ancestors are gonna hear about this! That's it, I can't take this anymore! Come on, Mulan. Let's quit this charade and go home, girl!" Mushu then noticed Shang staring in disbelief.

"Mulan? A woman? It can't be!" Ping—well, I guess Mulan—looked down in shame.

"Ping! Captain!" Sora called out to them. Shang faced the trio.

"You all knew that Ping was really a woman, didn't you?" he accused. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked like the guiltiest people on the planet. Shang turned away from them and started to walk. "The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the army…is death," he stated. Mulan looked up with disbelief. "Get out of my sight. You're all dismissed."

"But Captain," Sora started.

"My debt has been repaid. Pass the message on to Zhao," he solemnly walked away with the remaining soldiers on the mountain. Mushu climbed on Mulan's shoulder, obviously feeling bad.

"Mulan, I blew it."

Mulan just shook her head. She took off her father's armor and ponytail to reveal a young woman with short black hair. She smiled at the three. "Thank you everyone. Sorry I got you in trouble," she apologized.

Sora crossed his arms behind his head. "Eh, it's no problem. So Ping…I mean, Mulan…what're you gonna do now?" Sora asked.

"I guess I'll go home," she answered back.

"Girl, your daddy is gonna be steamed like a dumpling," Mushu reminded. Mulan hung her head down with dread. Sora grabbed Donald and Goofy and lifted them in the air.

"Don't worry! We'll take our share in the blame!" Sora decided for them.

Mulan laughed. "Thanks, you all are such wonderful friends," she said.

"And I'm sure Aya will take some blame too!" Sora stated. Realizing what they had forgotten, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all stared wide eyed at each other.

"Aya!" they shouted in unison.

Mulan seemed as worried as they were. "I haven't seen her since the avalanche!" she admitted. She pointed to a pathway. "She's probably further down the mountain! Let's go!"

A boy with blond hair that covered his eyes traversed the icy snow that now covered the foot of the mountain. "Where am I? And what happened here?" he questioned. Suddenly, a hand protruded from a pile of snow, catching him off guard.

"Mmmph!" the person of the hand shouted under the snow. The boy shifted his eyes left and right before steadily approaching the hand.

"W-Who is it?" he asked, slightly confused. The hand moved around violently.

"Mmph m Mmph!" the person shouted.

He grabbed the hand. "I didn't quite catch that, what did you say?" he wondered as he pulled the person out of the snow.

"I said; get me out of here, damnit!" the person shouted. It was Aya. The boy's face flushed red when he saw the hand belonged to a girl. He immediately let go and staggered back.

"W-Wha─? Where? How did─?" Aya sighed at the confusion of the boy.

"I was caught in an avalanche…stupid Ping," she muttered under her breath.

The boy seemed shocked. "And you survived!" he questioned.

Aya pinched the bridge of her nose, obviously irritated. "You survived with that obnoxiously blond hair? It's like staring at the sun."

The boy stroked his hair defensively. "I just saved your life! Are you gonna criticize me the whole time?" The boy asked.

Aya smiled. "I have other people to bother. Come on," Aya commanded.

The boy seemed taken aback. "What? You were just insulting me and now you want me to come with you?" he asked. _Wait a minute, I've seen this before! In video games and movies! The girl insults the boy; they get together, then they―_

"Yeah, I need someone to carry my things," she stated, interrupting his thoughts. She plopped her backpack into the boy's arms. "Let's go." The boy sweatdropped as he begrudgingly followed her down the trail.

Aya led the boy down the trail where she was intercepted by some Heartless. She took her pencils and stood in a defensive position. "Hey, don't expect me to do all the fighting," Aya insinuated. The boy put down her bag and grabbed his own bag. He reached in and pulled out an impossibly long staff. Aya stared dumbfounded at him.

"You don't think I would let you fight alone, did you?" the boy asked.

Aya shook her head and focused on the Heartless that was now lunging towards her. "Let's go!" Suddenly, a Keyblade was seen cutting through the Heartless along with some thunder, a shield, and a sword. Aya seemed agitated when she found Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Mulan standing before them. "What the hell, Sora?"

Sora seemed surprised by the outburst. "No, 'thank you'? We just helped you, you know," Sora asked.

Aya crossed her arms. "No way," she retorted.

Donald glanced at the boy standing behind Aya. "Who's that?" Donald questioned.

Aya stared at the boy, not sure what to call him. "Um…K-Kevin?" she guessed.

The boy sweatdropped at her attempt. "That's nowhere close to what my name is." He turned to Sora and the others and gave them a warm smile. "The name's Rayn. You know, like the water that falls from the sky?"

"Yes! This is Rayn. Rayn, this is Sora," she pointed to the brunette with spiky hair. "Donald." She pointed to the white duck. "Goofy." She pointed to the oversized dog. "And Ping? Or is it Mulan?" she asked with a grin.

Mulan laughed. "It's Mulan," she explained.

"What's the rush you guys, late for a Fallout Boy concert?" Aya jeered.

Sora made a face at her before answering back. "We saw Shan Yu higher up the mountain! He survived the avalanche and he's heading towards the Imperial City!" he elaborated.

Aya seemed to understand the situation. "Well, let's not waste any time. Come on, Sayn!" Aya commanded.

Rayn sweatdropped. "It's Rayn."

"Close enough."

"…"

The group approached the city to see Shang and the rest of the soldiers approaching the temple. "Captain!" Mulan apparently still felt the need to call him 'Captain' after being dismissed.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned.

Mulan paused to catch her breath. "It's Shan Yu! He's still alive! He's heading this way!" she explained.

"Why should I trust you this time?" Suddenly, Shan Yu's bird soared over the temple then onto a hill that towered right above the city. The bird landed on Shan Yu's shoulder. Shang saw this and immediately took action. "Soldiers! Protect the Emperor!" Shang ordered. Guy 1 and two others headed off towards the temple while the rest stayed behind. Shang turned, slightly confused as to why they were still here. "Soldiers?" The remaining soldiers instantly turned into Heartless.

"Woah, woah, where did that come from?" Aya questioned.

Sora instantaneously summoned his Keyblade, prompting everyone to assume their fighting stances. "You go protect the Emperor; we'll take care of things here," Sora told him. Shang seemed somewhat reluctant to leave.

"That's an order!" Donald reinforced. Shang agreed and headed towards the temple.

"Alright, time to knock some Heartless heads off!" Aya stated. Rayn seemed to be observing Aya's fighting style. It was a backhand knife grab with both pencils. He returned his attention to the Heartless, staff in hand. With all six of them fighting, they made quick work of the Heartless that appeared.

"Okay! Let's go guys!" Sora commanded. The six of them approached the door to find it was conveniently closed off. Guy 1 and the other two were steady pounding away at the door with a pillar from who knows where. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all took up part of the pillar and started to slam against the door as well.

Aya turned to Rayn. "Well, are you just gonna stand there?" she asked him. She pushed him towards the others. "Go help them!"

"But I don't think—" Rayn started.

"Be a man!" Rayn reluctantly went to go help.

Mulan, on the other hand, was gazing at one of the pillars still attached to the ground. "I got it! Guys!" she called out.

"We found an easier, more convenient, and less barbaric way to get in!" Aya stated. Sora and the others immediately placed the pillar on the ground and went over to hear the plan.

"All we have to do is climb this pillar and get through the top," Mulan explained. Aya, for some reason with grappling gear in hand, seemed disappointed.

"Guess I won't need this…" she mumbled, tossing the climbing gear to Rayn. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were the first to climb up. Mulan followed, falling down a few times before getting there. Aya directed Rayn to go before her because she didn't want him to look at her from 'that angle'. He protested that he wasn't a pervert, but ultimately went before her. They fell into the throne room to see Shang on his knees, wincing in pain, Shan Yu with his sword to the Emperor's neck, and the Emperor, looking the calmest out of everyone.

"Not so fast, Shan Yu!" Sora called out.

"Yeah! Go slower so we can catch up!" Aya added, trying to catch her breath. "I mean geez; would it kill you to threaten the Emperor _before_ the doors closed?" Everyone stared at her. "What? We were all thinking it." They brushed it off as Mulan ordered the remaining soldiers to get Shang out of there. Then, on cue as always, Heartless appeared.

"Sora, take care of the Heartless. Shan Yu's mine," Mulan told him. Sora agreed as he whipped out his Keyblade and started swinging at the Heartless. Everyone else joined in; Donald with his magic, Goofy with his shield, Rayn with his staff, and Aya with…two unsharpened pencils. Once the Heartless were taken care of, they all joined Mulan in her fight. With the six of them against Shan Yu, he went down fast, although he did put up a fight. The Emperor and Shang approached Mulan. She bowed respectfully at the Emperor.

"Fa Mulan, you have stolen your father's armor, impersonated a soldier, dishonored the Imperial Army," the Emperor stated with a clear tone of anger in his voice.

"Well damn, just to name a few, huh," Aya mumbled.

"We get it already," Sora complained, obviously feeling the same thing as Aya.

"And in the end…you have saved us all," The Emperor then unexpectedly bowed with respect toward Mulan. Shang and the mysterious crowd that appeared behind them followed suit and bowed as well. Mulan was naturally embarrassed.

"Mulan," Shang stated, getting her attention. He then turned to everyone else. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Aya, Rayn, thank you." The Emperor faced him.

"That's all you have to say to someone of her stature? To win her heart, you're going to have to be a little more eloquent." Both Mulan and Shang were embarrassed now. The Emperor gestured Shang to award Shan Yu's sword to Mulan. The sword then started to glow and float up. Apparently, Sora knew what to do, for he summoned his Keyblade. He then pointed the Keyblade at the sky and unlocked the gates to the other worlds. The five gave their excuses and left.

They all walked down a single winding path. Then, Aya seemed to remember something. "Ah man! I don't know where 'Pimp 2' is! And even if I did know, I'm pretty sure it's totaled! Now how am I supposed to travel to different worlds?"

"You're not!" Donald told her.

"Donald's right, Aya. You gotta get back to Hollow Bastion," Sora added.

"But I don't want to!" she argued.

"Uh, guys? Should we be talkin' about this in front of Rayn?" Goofy wondered.

Rayn just stood there, unchanging. "I don't see why not. If there are other worlds, then my situation would make a whole lot more sense," Rayn explained.

"What situation?" Donald wondered.

"Aren't you from here?" Aya inquired.

Rayn shook his head. "I'm from somewhere else. It's a nice quiet town. The view from my house is beautiful…" Rayn was almost lost in a reverie of thoughts when Aya snapped him out of it.

"What happened? Why are you here?" Aya questioned.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I fell unconscious, which I tend to do sometimes, and when I woke up, I was here."

Aya glanced at Sora. "Do you think his world was destroyed by darkness while he was sleep?" Aya asked.

Sora put his hand on his chin in thought. "It would make sense…" Sora stated. "What I don't get is─" Sora turned to see that Aya and Rayn were gone. "Wha─? Where'd they go?"

Aya skipped as she approached her miraculously and newly repaired Gummi Ship.

"My Gummi Ship! Fate is a goddess!" Aya exclaimed.

Rayn stood in confusion, staring at the oddly shaped ship. "Uh…what is it?" he wondered.

Aya faced him with one of her very rare and genuine smiles. "It's our ticket out of here! A Gummi Ship! No, it's _my_ Gummi Ship! The great 'Pimp 2'!" Aya stated proudly.

Rayn sweatdropped. "…What kind of name is that?" Rayn inquired.

A vein popped on Aya's head. "The same kind of name as 'Rayn'. It's not cloudy outside, so stop 'Rayning' on my parade!" Aya demanded.

Rayn sighed. "Right, sorry." The two of them entered the Gummi ship, unaware of the trials they would face.

**A.N- And there's chapter four! I'm a slow at typing, so sorry if I update slowly. As you can see, I introduced "Rayn" in this chapter. I made his name from the name "Ryan". On the computer, the name doesn't look quite right without an e on the end of it, but that's just me ranting! Please review and thanks for reading! See ya next chapter! Bye Mee! ^o^**


	5. Chapter 5

**A.N- Next chapter is up! Read and review please!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Kingdom Hearts or Disney**

**Claimer: I do own Aya, Rayn, and any other OC that shows up!**

* * *

><p><span>CH. 5: Let's go the Other way<span>

Aya and Rayn entered the Gummi Ship. Rayn gazed in amazement at the spacious ship and all of the controls. "Wow, you pilot this?" he asked wistfully.

Aya grinned smugly. "Yeah, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it!" She noticed the wonder in his eyes. She cleared her throat. "But of course, I'm better at the artillery and weapons. So I can't really pilot and shoot at the same time…maybe you could pilot instead."

Rayn's face lit up. "Really! Thanks!" He hugged Aya. "You're not heartless after all!"

A vein popped on Aya's head as she threw the instruction manual at him. "Read this whole thing twice over! I don't want you to crash us! And make it quick! Sora and the others could be on their way!" Rayn sighed. She is heartless. Surprising to Aya, Rayn made quick work of reading the manual. He then took his position at the pilot's seat and steadily, without much effort, lifted the Gummi Ship into the air.

"You should prepare yourself…" Aya added. Suddenly, the ship shot into the air, causing Aya and Rayn to hold on for dear life.

"H-Holy crap!" Rayn managed to shout. The two managed to move again once the ship left the atmosphere. "Glad that's over…"

"Well don't get too comfortable. We got Heartless!" Aya pointed out.

Rayn looked out to see things that resembled Gummi Ships and multiple obstacles blocking their path. "How did you get past these the first time?" Rayn questioned.

Aya sighed. "With pain and suffering," she answered. The duo proceeded in fighting and dodging the Heartless and blocks that were found in space. Once there was nothing else to do but wait for a world to appear, Aya sat back. "That was crazy, but we shouldn't have to worry about anymore this time around. Say, you hungry? The food in the kitchen is excellent!" Aya promoted.

Rayn shook his head. "Actually, there was something that I wanted to work on. Is there a workroom or something?" he inquired.

"There is your room. It has a desk and stuff, so you could work there," Aya retorted.

Rayn nodded. "Thanks. Tell me when we get to the next world," Rayn stated as he retreated to his room. Aya was curious, yet not enough to ask. She started to doze into sleep when, once again, the monitor flashed on.

"Aya, are you there?" a voice called out to her. Aya popped her eyes open to see Aerith with a slightly worried face.

"Oh, Aerith. It's you," Aya noted. "_They just had to fix the monitor, didn't they?_" she muttered under her breath.

Aerith smiled. "I'm glad to see you're okay. Sora and the others called and said that you ran off with a boy and they haven't seen you since," Aerith explained.

"Well, there were two roads; he must have taken the other one." Aerith nodded her head.

"I'm glad you're safe, but that's not the only reason I called. Some strange people came looking for you the other day. They didn't look familiar and they seemed to know that you were from another world."

Aya's curiosity was piqued. "Strange people? Did they give any names?" Aya wondered.

Aerith shook her head. "All they asked was if we knew where you were. At the time, we weren't really sure and even if we did know, we wouldn't have told them. They seemed a bit irritated and left in a fit."

Aya pondered this for a moment. "Well, I don't know who it could be," Aya stated. "They were probably just fans who wanted an autograph!"

Aerith smiled. "Okay, as long as you're safe, I don't really mind that you travel different worlds to be honest."

Aya's face was filled with elation. "Really! Then you understand!" Aya exclaimed.

Aerith suddenly got a stern look on her face. "I understand that if I hear that you got yourself hurt, you're gonna come back here ASAP!" Aerith told her strictly.

Aya bowed her head. "Yes ma'am," Aya stated instantly.

Aerith grinned at Aya. "So, who's the boy they told me about?"

Aya turned away from the screen and glanced at the door to Rayn's room. "Don't ask like that. You make it sound like we're going out or something."

Aerith laughed. "I was just wondering," Aerith stated. "At least tell me his name."

Aya puffed her cheeks out in defiance. "His name is Rayn," Aya finally answered.

"That's great! Play nice you two!" Aerith teased as the screen went to static.

Aya sighed. "That lady is a handful." Just as soon as the screen went off, another notification popped up. _"Would you like to land here?"_ Aya gazed at the screen to see what looked like a coliseum on the top, but something dark at the bottom. "The Olympus Coliseum? Looks interesting! I bet there're tons of competitors I can irritate there!" She cleared her throat. "Yes. Rayn! Get out here! We need to land!"

Rayn walked out of his room, obviously seeming to just have worked hard. "Yes, captain," he told her.

As Rayn was landing the ship, Aya glanced at him curiously to see fresh scars on his hands. "What were you doing?" Aya questioned.

Rayn smiled. "Nothin' much. Just doing some work," Rayn told her.

"Hmm…alright." Aya sat in silence as Rayn landed the ship outside of a town. They walked past the town to see a coliseum possibly eighteen times their size. Aya gawked at the sheer size of the place. "W-Wow, they couldn't have made the place any bigger, huh?" Aya assumed.

"Y-Yeah," Rayn agreed.

"…Should we go in?" Aya inquired.

"…I guess…" Aya and Rayn traversed to the coliseum doors when a puff of black smoke appeared before them. Once the fire died down, a man that was completely blue (_completely_) with blue fire on his head was standing there.

"Hey, what's up?" the guy said casually.

"Your head is on fire." Rayn stated.

"Should we put it out?" Aya wondered.

"But it might be one of those oil fires." Rayn thought out loud.

Aya nodded in understanding. "Yeah, that makes sense. We should―"

"Um, hello! Lord of the dead? Standing right here?"

The two turned to the man with dead-pan expressions. "Lord of the dead is right. Dead manners!" Aya pointed out. "And all I was trying to do was put out the fire on your head. How about "thank you"? Thaaaaaaaank you." The man then burst into a reddish-orange color, fire and everything. "Oh, so you think changing color is gonna change anything? Do you have purple too? But I bet your skin would go better with a yellow…" Aya tried to determine.

"Aya…" Rayn tried to stop her, seeing the guy getting riled up.

"Listen you little brat! You don't talk to Hades, god of the Underworld like that!"

Aya placed her hand on her chin. "Underworld? Was that the poor, out of shape place I saw before I got here?"

"Do you want to go back!" Hades threatened.

Aya faked shock. "Was that a threat I heard? Are you saying you're going to kill me?" Aya grinned. "But you wouldn't want to do that. If I died, I would have no choice but to be down there forever and bother you for eternity. I think I speak for both of us when I say I'd be a better asset alive versus dead."

Hades, despite being irritated, reverted back to his blue phase. "Alright kid, we just got off on the wrong foot. The name's Hades, god of the Underworld. How's it going?"

"Aya," Aya retorted. "And this is Rayn," she introduced, gesturing towards Rayn.

"Great," Rayn muttered. "Now the lord of death knows my name."

"Alright! Now, I just need you to do me a tiny favor," Hades stated.

Aya sighed. "Sounds like work…" she said.

"It's nothing too heinous. A couple of brats, I mean kids, like you should be able to handle it."

"Well, come on. Out with it," Aya demanded.

Hades' eye twitched. "Lousy little…Anyway, I want you to spy on that zero Hercules and tell me what condition he's in."

"Really? That's it? You don't want me to reap the immortal souls of humans?" Aya jeered.

Hades shook his head. "No, no, no, that's my job."

"Can't you do it yourself?" Rayn wondered.

"Hello? Lord of the dead? I'm pretty sure people won't be too thrilled to see death sitting next to them," Hades retorted.

"Isn't that the Grim Reaper?" Rayn questioned.

"Can't you just get your lackeys to do this?"

Hades burst into his orange fire again. "Just go!" he demanded.

Aya shook her head. "Fine. Geez." Aya led Rayn into the Coliseum building. She instantly noticed a short man/horse…thing. For understanding purposes, we'll call him Phil. She also set her eyes on a woman wearing a pinkish-purple dress sitting on a bench, looking slightly worried.

"Hey, where do we go to watch the matches?" Rayn asked no one in particular.

Phil didn't turn around. "Sorry, the pews are full. You'll have to wait 'till next time," Phil answered.

"But we─" Rayn started.

Phil turned to them. "Two words; Don't. Even. Bother."

Aya bit her lip to try to restrain a smartass comment from escaping her lips. She pushed Rayn out of the way. "We tried your "good cop" approach. Now it's my turn." She walked up to Phil and went to one knee to his level. "Listen, we were sent by an organization to scope out the coliseum. If our sources are correct, then there could be spies scattered all around here, plotting against this place. For your, and all of the people's, well-being, I suggest that you allow us to enter."

Phil seemed to be in deep thought. "Nice try. But the pews are full!" Phil insisted. "Now get out of here and go drink some milk or something."

Aya picked him up and shook him around. "Let us in the coliseum, damn it!" Aya demanded.

The woman sighed. "Phil, just let them in. Maybe they could see how Wonder Boy needs to take it easy," she stated with a twang of sarcasm in her voice.

Aya seemed curious. "Wonder Boy? Who is that, Superman?" Aya wondered.

The woman shook her head. "It's the hero, Hercules!" Phil answered for her.

"Somebody call?" A muscular man with orange hair staggered out of the arena. The woman stood up hastily, as if trying to help him walk. The man, Hercules, lifted his hand, gesturing to stand down.

"You need to take a break. You've been fighting non-stop for days," the woman insisted.

"Meg, I'm fine." He then raised his arms up showing his muscles. "The people came to see a hero! I can't let them down!" he answered in a more heroic voice.

Aya stared at him. "Sir, you don't look well. Did you have too many energy drinks? Those are bad for your teeth." Aya told him. Rayn sweatdropped at the comment. Hercules looked over to them.

"Oh, do we possibly have some future heroes?"

Aya glanced at Rayn. "Yeeeeah. Sure, why not?" she retorted.

"I'm Hercules." He then pointed at the satyr. "That's Phil." He finally made it to the woman. "And this is Meg."

Aya extended her hand out for all of them. "Call me Aya. And this is my friend, Rayn," she introduced.

Hercules then seemed to notice something. "Oh! The next match is starting! Gotta go!" Hercules shouted, running back into the arena.

Aya shook her head. "Stubborn," she muttered. She faced Phil with a grin. "So, when do we start training?"

"What!" Rayn questioned.

Phil crossed his arms. "Sorry. You're out of luck if you want me to train you. I'm too busy here." Phil explained.

Aya raised an eyebrow. "You're standing in a corner," she pointed out.

"The answer is no!" Phil reinforced. Obviously, it didn't take Aya anymore convincing because she immediately left the building with Rayn not too far behind. As they trotted out, a familiar burst of blue smoke appeared before them. The smoke died out to reveal once again, Hades.

"Alright, what ya got for me?" Hades wondered.

"Hades!" Rayn shouted.

Aya turned him. "You know him?" she asked.

Rayn sweatdropped. "Aya, we just met him not thirty minutes ago," Rayn explained.

Aya thought for a moment. "Nope, nothing."

Rayn face palmed.

"Hey! That's not too important right now! Did you at least get the info?" The 411?" Hades asked.

Aya shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. Let's go, Rayn," Aya responded.

Hades disappeared and reappeared in front of them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. We had a deal."

"I don't remember making any deal." Aya told him.

"And it was more like you asking us a favor. We wouldn't have benefitted at all," Rayn added.

Hades squinted his face in anger. "You little brats! You'll pay for this!" Hades then disappeared.

Rayn faced Aya. "You really don't remember him?" Rayn wondered.

Aya shrugged her shoulders. "Of course I do. I just wanted to mess with him."

"Isn't he lucky?" a familiar voice called out. Aya and Rayn hastily turned to see Kaim.

"It's the stalker!" Aya called out.

Rayn seemed quite alarmed by the appearance. "You know who this is?" Rayn questioned.

"Of course she knows!" Kaim retaliated. "Well, at least she should know anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Aya wondered as she searched for her pencils.

Kaim seemed increasingly irritated lately. "I mean that you left me! You left all of us! You didn't even turn back and think of us, you cold blooded─"

"Aw crap!" Aya shouted, interrupting Kaim's soap opera moment.

Rayn glanced at Aya curiously. "What's wrong?" Rayn inquired to the obviously grief stricken Aya.

"M-My pencils…they broke!"

Rayn sweatdropped. "What did you expect? You've been fighting Heartless and Nobodies. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did." Rayn paused when he noticed her crushing the pencils even more.

"Damn store brand! I should've bought Pentel! But nooooo, she had a coupon!" Kaim, fueled by rage, summoned his weapon, a spear like staff with retractable blades at the top, and charged at Aya. Before he could make impact, Rayn blocked the attack with his own staff.

"Get out of my way!" Kaim demanded.

Rayn glared at him. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm not gonna let you hurt my friend," Rayn told him.

Kaim scoffed. "What do you know about her?" Kaim leapt back, spear in an offensive stance.

"Enough to protect her," Rayn followed suit and went into a defensive stance. "Come at me!"

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><p><strong>A.N- And that's it! Who knew this actually had a story! I didn't when I made it! Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! Bye Mee! ^o^<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N- I'm back peoples! This is the sixth chapter of my story! Wow, this is going by much faster than my MÄR story…anyway, here you go! Read, enjoy, and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

**Claimer: I do own Aya and the other OCs!**

* * *

><p><span>CH. 6: Kaim versus Rayn<span>

Kaim scoffed as he gripped his weapon in his hand. "Hmph. I don't know who you think you are, but I've known Aya long enough to know that she doesn't care about you," Kaim antagonized as he lunged his spear towards Rayn. Rayn easily blocked the attacks, countering every strike he could. Rayn managed to push Kaim back.

"That's funny. It seems like Aya doesn't remember or even know you for that matter," Rayn stated. Kaim gritted his teeth as he swung his retractable blades at Rayn. Rayn, unfortunately, was only able to block one. The other grazed his side.

"That just proves it! She can't even remember those who are important to her! She'll eventually forget you all over again," he told him in a grave tone as he let his weapon disappear. "I didn't come here to draw blood. I just wanted her to remember what she lost and suffer from it."

Rayn placed his weapon in his bottomless bag as well. "You're going about this the wrong way," he tried to convince him.

Kaim just shook his head. A dark corridor appeared behind him. "You wouldn't understand…" he stated as he stepped through the portal.

Rayn stared at the spot until the corridor disappeared. He then turned to Aya to see her still fumbling with her pencils. "Are you okay?" Rayn wondered.

A vein popped on Aya's head. She glared at him, fire in her eyes. "Do I look okay! These pencils cost fifty cents! FIFTY CENTS! You know what I could buy with fifty cents!"

Rayn sweatdropped. "You didn't see what just happened?" he asked. "And when did you become a penny pincher?"

Aya gazed at him. "I don't know what you're talking about." But just then she noticed the graze on his side. "What happened to you? Did you get a fight with a koala? I told you, those animals are cute but deadly!"

Rayn face palmed. "You really didn't notice…" he sighed. Instead of answering, Aya looked past him to a figure in a familiar black coat wearing the hood spying in the coliseum. _'…Was Aya serious about the spies?'_ Rayn thought as he noticed the figure, too. The man in the black coat turned to see Aya and Rayn standing right behind him.

"Whoa!" he shouted.

"Who are you? You don't look like Kaim," Aya questioned.

The figured looked hastily between the two and started to run. "Y-You guys didn't see me!" The figure ran off, leaving Aya and Rayn to stand alone.

"…We should go back to Hollow Bastion," Aya stated after a while.

"Where?" he questioned.

Aya seemed shocked. "Oh right! You haven't been there before! Come on! Let's go now!" Without further ado, Aya and Rayn were already on their Gummi Ship and blasted off into space.

The ride to Hollow Bastion was relatively quick, considering that the road there was already cleared. It was also quiet, for Rayn was cooped up in his room once again. Aya didn't care much about what he was doing, yet she was always curious. Aya called Rayn to the pilot's seat to land the Gummi Ship. She took a deep sigh as the exited the ship. Walking through Hollow Bastion made her feel refreshed with a little dread. Leon was sure to have a lot to say. "This," Aya spread her arms out as she twirled in a semicircle, "is Hollow Bastion!"

"Look whose back again!" a voice called out from a rooftop. With further examination, Aya revealed that the voice came from Yuffie.

"Yuffie! It's good to see you again!" Aya exclaimed.

Yuffie leapt down off the building and grinned. "Who's your friend? Is it your boyfriend?" Yuffie teased. Rayn's face was shaded red.

"He's not my boyfriend, _Aerith_," Aya said, remembering that Aerith asked a similar question. "This is Rayn. Rayn, this is Yuffie."

Yuffie just smiled smugly. "Yeah, okay," she retorted. The three of them began to walk through the town. "So, what are you guys doing here?"

Aya grinned. "Just thought we'd stop by! Say hi to everyone and such," she answered.

"Well hey! I think Sora and the others are still here! With all of your help, we get rid of these Heartless and Nobodies," Yuffie suggested.

Aya sweatdropped, remembering that she and Rayn practically ditched them. "Yeah…sounds like fun," Aya trailed off. She scoped the area. "There does seem to be a lot more heartless running around here."

Yuffie sighed. "Yeah. I just wish we could get rid of them once and for all."

Aya fell silent as they continued walking. Yuffie led Aya and Rayn to Merlin's house, where a book that stood out from the rest. It was on a podium and was labeled, Winnie the Pooh.

"Huh, I wonder where Merlin is," Yuffie wondered.

Suddenly, a poof of smoke appeared and revealed the wizard Merlin. "Did someone call?" Merlin asked. He glanced over to see Aya, Rayn, and Yuffie. "Ah, it's Aya and her friend, Rayn. It's to my understanding that you two are boyfriend/girlfriend, yes?"

Rayn sweatdropped as Aya face palmed. "Damn you Aerith…" Aya muttered.

"Is Sora here?" Yuffie inquired.

"Ah yes! They stepped out to fight the heartless! They should be just outside!"

"And we missed them?" Aya questioned.

"Oh yeah! I forgot all about that!" Yuffie remembered. She turned to Aya and Rayn. "We could use all the help we can get."

Aya nodded. "Of course, because I have nothing better to do in my empty life than to fight Heartless," Aya retorted.

Rayn laughed sheepishly as he pushed her out the door. "That means 'yes', she doesn't mind."

Aya glared back at him. "What about you?" she wondered.

"I'll catch up with you two later, don't wait up!" Rayn insisted. Aya shrugged as she and Yuffie ran out the house. Rayn faced Merlin. "Merlin, I need a favor…"

Aya failed to see Sora and the others outside Merlin's house. She and Yuffie did, however, run into Leon surrounded by a crowd of Heartless. Aya instinctively ran up and kicked one of the Heartless. The Heartless flung into the air and hit the side of a building, causing it to disappear. Leon turned to them, but soon gave his attention back to the heartless.

"You sure took your time, Yuffie," Leon remarked. He glanced at Aya. "Where's that boyfriend Aerith has been talking about?"

A vein popped on Aya's head. "How many times is that going to be said in _one_ chapter!" Aya fumed as they defeated the Heartless. She sat down; trying to catch her breath.

"What's wrong, Aya? Tired after only a few heartless?" a voice called out. A figure in a black coat stood on top of a building not too far from their position. Everyone seemed to see him except Aya.

"Where is he? Who said that?"

The figure face palmed. "I'm up here, damn it!"

Aya finally averted her attention to the top of the building where the figure stood. "Oh. There he is," Aya stated. Leon and Yuffie shook their heads.

"Who are you?" Leon questioned. The figure leapt down off the building, landing before them. He removed his hood to reveal a sixteen year old boy with turquoise hair with black highlights. His eyes were a green color, complimenting his pale skin. A crooked smirk covered his face.

"Why don't you ask Aya?" He responded. The two glanced at Aya and was met with her forever blank expression.

"I have no idea who you are. I don't remember everyone I talk to at Wal-Mart."

The boy face palmed. "Of course you wouldn't…" he trailed off."The name's Abrin. Ring any bells?" he answered. Aya crossed her arms.

"Are you with the Organization?" Yuffie questioned.

Abrin scoffed. "I personally don't like to associate myself with them," he retorted.

"Then why are you wearing their coats?" Leon wondered.

Abrin examined his attire. "Didn't you guys hear? Black is in this year." Everyone face planted at the comment. Suddenly, Abrin lunged towards Aya, electricity engulfing his hand. Aya prepared to brace herself when Leon blocked the attack with his gunblade.

"What do you want?" Leon questioned. The force of the electricity and the gunblade making contact caused the two to skid back.

Abrin continued to rush towards Aya. "This has nothing to do with you! This is the only way she'll remember! Now get out of my way!" Abrin fueled his electricity with extra power, causing Leon to flip back. He stopped and snapped his fingers. Multiple Nobodies appeared before them. "Heh, right on time. Perhaps this will keep you busy." The Nobodies headed towards the town.

"Wait!" Yuffie shouted as she ran after the nobodies.

Abrin smirked. "She won't be able to handle them alone, especially with the heartless running around." Leon glared at him spitefully.

"Leon…go help Yuffie," Aya told him.

Leon glanced curiously at her. "Are you sure?" he questioned skeptically.

Aya nodded. "The town needs your attention. I'll be fine! I can take him!" She surprised herself with that comment. She wasn't really one to "take one for the team". Leon silently agreed; giving her silent "be careful" as he headed towards the town. Aya now stood solemnly before Abrin. He grinned.

"How noble. Since when were you the type?" he questioned.

Aya gave a shadow of a smile. "What, you think I gave up my sarcastic edge because of one good deed?" She sunk down into a fighting stance. "I don't know who you are, but obviously you don't know me as well as you think you do!"

Abrin glared at her. Electricity sparked around his right hand. "You don't know anything. You'll remember us…" The electricity surrounded his entire body now. "All of us!"

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><p><strong>A.N- And there you have it! A shorter chapter compared to the others, but I hope you all like it! Thanks for reading and please review! Bye Mee! ^o^<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N- This is already the seventh chapter! I'm surprised I got this far. Nothing much to say except, read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

**Claimer: I do own Aya and the other OCs!**

* * *

><p><span>C H. 7: The Hollow Bastion light show!<span>

Aya was taken aback by Abrin's electricity. To be honest, Aya had no idea what to do in a one-on-one fight. No matter how much she boasted, she knew her fighting skills were mediocre at best. And since she was weaponless, they were even lower. Abrin charged at her with incredible speed. It was taking everything she had just to dodge the attacks. Abrin managed to grab her arm, shocking her in the process, and threw her into the air. She was able to slit open her eyes when she noticed something crucial to getting the upper hand in this fight. She couldn't react to it, for she made a very painful contact with the ground. She could barely lift herself off the ground. _'Am I gonna die? Damn it, I didn't win that contest yet!' _Aya, with uncharacteristic determination, raised herself up, much to Abrin's surprise.

"I'm gonna win that contest, damn it!" Aya shouted. Abrin had a questioning look on his face just when something fell out of his pocket. It was a silver necklace with a cone shaped tip near the bottom. On top appeared to be a floating metal shape surrounded by coils and swirls of metal. For some reason, Aya's eyes were drawn to the item, as if it belonged to her. Seeing this, Abrin decided to use this to his advantage.

"Remember this? We all had one. It was a part of the circle that connected us. You remember, don't you?" Abrin wondered. A throbbing pain reached Aya's head. She tried to suppress the pain with her hand, but it proved futile. Already weak from the fight, Aya was now on her knees, giving up the attempt to lift herself back to her feet. Before she lost her grip on consciousness, she glared up at Abrin with a grin.

"That's why…I stole your wallet…" Then she passed out. Abrin had completed his mission for now, but felt a bit stupid when he noticed his wallet was really gone. A dark corridor appeared, and Abrin stepped through.

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><p><em>A younger version of Aya, approximately seven years old, stood next to four other children.<em>

_"Hey, guess what?" one of the young children, a boy, asked._

_"The world would be a better place without politics?" Aya guessed. _

_The boy shook his head._ _"Sorry, not quite!" he answered._

_"So what're we doing here?" a little girl asked. The boy grinned as he took out five small boxes._

_"I got these at the store the other day! My mom even let me pick it out myself!" _

_Aya stared at the boxes._ _"You're giving us a box? How kind…now I can put it next to my rubber band collection." Aya retorted sarcastically. _

_A vein popped on the boy's head._ _"It's what's in the box, stupid!" He opened the boxes to reveal five almost identical necklaces. The only differences being the shape of the piece on the inside._

_"Necklaces?" another little boy questioned. "Can boys wear necklaces?" _

_Aya smiled._ _"Sure they can! But why are all the pieces in the middle different?" she wondered._

_"Because," the boy who brought the necklaces started, "You can take the pieces out and put them together!" _

_The girl glanced at the necklaces._ _"Let's try it out at my house. My dad is making pizza," she suggested in her dead tone voice. Everyone agreed. Suddenly, everyone began to disappear one by one until Aya was the only one left._

_"Wait!" Aya called out. "What about…"_

* * *

><p>Aya shot out of the bed she was in.<p>

"THE PIZZA!" she shouted. Yuffie, Aerith, Rayn, and Sora were all startled by the outburst. She observed the room to see that she was in Merlin's house. She then glanced out the window to see that they were a few stories up. _'Wow. I didn't know this place was so big. It looks smaller on the outside.'_

"You're awake!" Aerith celebrated.

Aya seen the reactions in the room and knew everyone was thinking the same thing. "Watching me in my sleep? That's kinda weird guys…" Aya stated.

"We came to see if you were alright," Sora protested.

"How long was I out?" Aya wondered, disregarding Sora's claim.

Aerith smiled. "Not as long as I thought you would. Only a few hours," she answered.

Rayn sat with a guilty conscious lingering over him. "It's my fault," he stated. "If I had only gone with you instead of staying back, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Aya agreed with this, but saw the contrite expression he tried to hide. She sighed. "I should've been able to handle myself." Then she smirked. "And besides, you can make it up to me by making lunch next time we're in the Gummi Ship!" Rayn chuckled a bit.

"Which won't happen anytime soon," Yuffie stated.

Aya glanced at her. "What do you mean?" she inquired.

Aerith had her hands on her hips. "You're in no condition to be going to different worlds now. Besides, I told you if you got hurt you had to stay here," she explained.

"But‒" Aya started to say, but Aerith shook her head and handed her a cup of tea.

"Just take it easy," Aerith told her as she exited the room, followed by Yuffie.

Aya and Rayn exchanged a look. "We're sneaking out, aren't we?" Rayn asked.

Aya nodded. "Of course," she responded.

"What?" Sora questioned. Aya and Rayn just now realized that Sora was still in the room.

Aya stood up, still a little wobbly, and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Look, Sora, you're either with us or against us." She thought for a moment. "And since you heard our motives, you're automatically with us!"

Sora was taken aback. "You want me to help you escape?" Sora asked.

"No, you _will_ help us escape," Aya commanded.

Sora sighed. "What ever happened to democracy?" Sora questioned.

Aya smiled. "It doesn't exist in this world." Aya shot out.

Sora sighed. "What's the plan?" he agreed, finally and reluctantly.

Aya smirked manically, causing Rayn and Sora to feel uneasy.

Sora led Donald and Goofy outside Merlin's house when night fell. "What are we doing, Sora?" Donald wondered.

"We just need to get something real quick," he answered. A light flickered from a window, giving Sora a signal to summon his Keyblade. A white flag flew out of the window, followed by Aya. "Donald, I'm gonna need your help. Aero!" Wind blew from the tip of his Keyblade.

Donald followed suit and took out his staff. "Aeroga!" Donald shouted. Aya floated down to the ground due to the wind. Rayn went through the same process. Aya made herself stable, dusted herself off, and smiled.

"Where are Leon and the others?" she asked.

Sora crossed his arms behind his head after previously calling back his Keyblade. "Leon's on patrol around the Bailey, Yuffie is around the castle, Aerith is still in Merlin's house, and Merlin is somewhere. I think their positions might change if we don't move soon," Sora reported.

Aya nodded in thought. "You all go ahead, I'll catch up soon." Aya told them.

Rayn glanced curiously at her. "What for?" he wondered.

"That's none of your business. Now go before you get caught and bring everlasting shame to our team," Aya commanded. Rayn sweatdropped as he followed Sora and the others. Aya glanced at Merlin's house. "This place is so much bigger on the inside…" she commented. She peered into the house to see Aerith striding out the front door. Aya decided this was her chance and climbed through the window. "I gotta be careful…that kooky old man could be anywher_e,_" she muttered under her breath as she searched through the multitudes of books.

"Who are you calling a kooky old man?" Behind Aya appeared Merlin, slightly offended. "And here I was looking for you to give you this." In his hands were two small orbs. One had a fire emblem inside and the other with thunder.

"What are those?" she wondered.

"These are orbs of magic. Carry these, and you will be able to cast the spells fire and thunder," Merlin explained.

"I didn't think it was that simple," Aya admitted.

Merlin handed the orbs to her. "Oh believe me; you'll have your fair share of trouble controlling them at first. They also get more complex the higher ranked the spell," he elaborated. "Now, what were you doing going through my books?"

Aya scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Uh, I was exploring the great world of literature," she lied. Aya hated to read.

"Oh! Well that's fine then. Would you like to read Expel from the Dark side? Oh, Tales of the Night is a good one too." Merlin looked to see that Aya was long gone. "Ah, must have been in a hurry."

Aya approached her Gummi Ship to see Rayn waiting for her.

"Aya!" Rayn whispered. Aya grabbed his arm as she ran passed him and pulled him into the ship.

"Talk later. We gotta go," she hastily replied. They entered Pimp 2 and Rayn flew them over Hollow Bastion. Before they left the atmosphere, however, Aya decided to put one of her new spells to work. Since they had nothing in the cargo hold, being as broke as they are, she opened it and held on to a nearby handle. "Thunder!" Due to her lack of experience and control, the thunder spread across the skyline, illuminating the town with blue and yellow. "See ya!"

Leon and Yuffie gazed at the night sky, watching the thunder light up the night.

"Was there supposed to be fireworks today?" Yuffie questioned.

Leon shook his head. "I think it was more of a parting gift," he answered.

Yuffie glanced at him before looking back at the sky. She grinned. "That Aya is something else…"

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><p><strong>A.N- And that's it! Thanks for reading this chapter! I won't be updating for a while. I have final exams, then the holidays. I'll be busy in December, birthday things and all, then I'm going on vacation with my friend. So, I guess I'll see you all in January! Happy Holidays! Bye Mee! ^o^<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**A.N- Heya everyone! It's been a while! I finally got this chapter up! I'm not sure what world they should go to. I wanted to keep it in that "Disney" domain, but the search hasn't been going well. If you guys have any suggestions, just leave it in a review or PM me. Well, here's the chapter! Oh, and Happy New Year!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Square Enix titles or Disney anything.**

**Claimer: I do own Aya, Rayn, you know, those people.**

CH. 8: A Walk down Memory lane

Aya and Rayn sat in the flying Gummi Ship. Rayn glanced at Aya, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Something wrong?" Rayn asked curiously.

Aya gave him a sideways glance before turning her gaze forward again. "It was a dream I had when that Abrin guy dropped a necklace," she said before continuing, "It was me; I looked about seven years old. There were four other kids around my age too. Two of them looked kinda like Kaim and Abrin. There was a girl…and another boy." Rayn sat solemnly as Aya recounted her dream. "The little boy looked kinda like you," she finished after a moment.

It was silent for almost a whole minute after that. Rayn glanced to see if Aya was looking for an explanation, but she didn't appear to. She kept looking forward. "Maybe…since we've been spending so much time together lately, your mind placed me into your dream," Rayn tried to explain, but Aya just sat there.

"Hmm…" she thought. "Nah, that can't be it. Why would I be thinking of you? If I was, your hair would've blinded me like the bright lights on a car in the pitch black on an abandoned street on a dark, cloudy night."

Rayn sweatdropped. "O-Okay…" Rayn muttered.

Aya then smiled slightly. "But it did feel nice, to have friends like that I mean. But I remember everything after the age of twelve, so it's normal to forget those early memories, right?"

Rayn couldn't help but have a melancholic glint in his eye as he glanced towards Aya. "Yeah…" he stated under his breath.

Aya peered out the window to see a giant meteor heading their way. "Hey, Rayn," Aya started.

"Yeah?" he wondered, giving her a minute glance, but Aya continued to peer out the window.

"I don't want to cause any panic, so I'll say this calmly; there's a giant meteor heading towards Pimp 2."

Rayn seemed confused until he turned his head and witnessed the large chunk of space rock hurling towards them. Rayn's eyes widened as he leapt to the pilot's seat and attempted to steer the ship away from the meteor. "Aya! Hold on, this might be a bit rocky." He then heard a "boo" in the background. Rayn sharply swerved Pimp 2, getting out with only a long scratch bordering the ship. Aya held back her urge to kill Rayn, only because they were going off course.

"WARNING. HEADING OFF COURSE. EXTERNAL DAMAGE TO THE STARBOARD SIDE," the warning system…warned.

"Shut up! We're aware of this, you stupid piece of junk!" Aya complained.

"DON'T COP AN ATTITUDE WITH ME, WENCH."

A vein popped on Aya's head. "What the hell!" Aya proceeded in kicking the inside of the ship. Rayn would've face palmed if he wasn't trying to get the ship back on track.

"It's no use! The world nearby is pulling us in with its gravity! We have to find cover, now!" Rayn shouted. Aya lunged herself under a fairly convenient table while Rayn hid under the pilot's seat. The last thing Aya remembered was seeing Rayn dive for cover.

Rayn slowly opened his eyes only to be met with a throbbing pain. He touched the side of his head to see that it was bleeding. A thought then instantly shot across his mind. "Aya!" he shouted as he shot up, causing his head to throb even more. He forced his body to stand up, even though he would've appreciated lying down for another five hours. He surveyed the area to find Aya about a few meters away lying on her stomach. "Aya!" He rushed over there as soon as he could and seen a large gash on her arm. She also had multiple bruises. He hurried and looked for his bag, which luckily wasn't too far away, and pulled out his staff. "Cure," he stated, allowing the green light to encompass Aya's body. Only the gash closed up and healed. Rayn sighed. _'Sorry Aya, you'll have to deal with the bruises for now,'_ he thought.

Rayn searched his bag for some bandages to wrap his head with, considering that he didn't have a high supply of magic to use. Once he found it and proceeded in wrapping his head, he noticed a small box out of the corner of his eye. He finished wrapping and trotted towards the box. He grabbed it and opened it carefully to see a necklace with a metal tip and an odd shaped piece in the center of metal coils and swirls. Rayn smiled to his self as he whispered, "It survived the crash…"

"Why do you care? You abandoned it and the past long ago," a voice called out. Rayn hastily turned to see Kaim standing a few feet behind him.

"Kaim…" Rayn muttered. Kaim just glared at him. It was Rayn who decided to break the silence. "Why do you think that hurting her is the only way?" he asked.

Kaim leered at Rayn before answering. "Haven't you heard of 'no pain, no gain'?" Kaim retorted.

Rayn sneered. "You think that's gonna work? There has to me a better way to make her remember!" Rayn tried to convince him.

"Well, what are you doing!" Kaim snapped. Rayn didn't answer. Kaim scoffed. "Exactly. I knew I should've told Aya who you really were in the first place."

"Well, why didn't you?" Rayn snapped back.

"Because, finding out on her own will be all the─"

"What's wrong with you?" Rayn interrupted, catching Kaim by surprise. "Do you hear yourself? You're saying this like she's an enemy! She was your best friend, all of ours! You don't care that you're hurting her? You aren't acting like a friend at all!"

"Don't tell me what I'm acting like! She deserves what she gets! To just forget her friends and live happily ever after while the rest of us are suffering is unacceptable!"

Rayn sighed. "Kaim, that was a long time ago, let it go," Rayn beseeched him.

"Like hell, I will! We're still paying for that!"

_Thirteen year old Kaim awoke on a cement ground. He looked around to see three of his friends; Abrin, a girl, and Rayn. He was slightly dismayed when he didn't see Aya._

_"Aya! Aya, where are you!" Kaim called out. The others caught on and followed suit. Suddenly, a crowd of obviously angry people approached them._

_"Where is she? Where's Aya!" a man from the crowd called. Kaim seemed stressed._

_"We don't know. We're looking for her now," he answered. _

_Another man stepped forward. "Don't bother! Wherever she is, it's not our problem!" He stated. _

_Abrin seemed shocked. "How could you say that! She's a part of us!" Abrin protested._

_"She messed with that door we warned you all about!" a random voice called out. The four of them stood in shock._

_"Th-The door? What do you mean?" the younger Rayn wondered._

_"The one we all specifically told you all to stay away from! The one that led to darkness!" _

_Kaim's eyes widened._ _"That door is the reason our world is gone?" he inquired. _

_The person nodded._ _"Since she was the only one near the door around the time and the only one not here, she must have been responsible for it!" the townsperson responded. Even the girl, who was usually calm and dead-pan, was a little on edge._

_"What are you gonna do when you find her?" the girl wondered._

_"It's obvious, we're gonna imprison her for high treason!" another person shouted. The crowd roared with agreement as the four stood pale, not sure what to say. There was a long silence. _

_Kaim then balled his hands into fists._ _"It wasn't Aya…" Kaim started. Everyone's eyes were now on Kaim._

_"What are you doing?" Abrin whispered._

_"I know what I'm doing!" Kaim whispered back. "Aya didn't do it…I did." _

_The expressions on everyone's face could only be described as shock and disbelief._ _"What? You were the one who did this!" a man questioned. _

_Kaim leered at everyone._ _"Yeah, it was me! I opened the door! Take me in!" _

_Abrin glanced at Kaim, then at everyone else._ _"Hey, don't take all the credit! I helped out too!" Abrin included. _

_The girl quickly caught on._ _"Me too, Aya was nowhere near us," she added. The three of them glanced at Rayn, who seemed hesitant to join in. _

_He then raised his hands in the air._ _"I was a part of this too. Don't punish Aya for something she didn't do…" Rayn finally stated. _

_The townspeople looked stunned at the revelation._ _"Well, it doesn't matter if you confessed or not, your punishment will be all the same!" a voice from the crowd suddenly stated._

_"Take them in!" Another voice called out. The crowd surrounded the young tweens and forced them to walk. Out of the corner of his eye, Rayn saw his parents leering at him with disappointment. He then stared at the sky. 'Aya, please be okay…'_

"Kaim, you can't blame Aya for that. That was our decision, we chose to do that," Rayn stated.

Kaim scoffed. "She was our friend. What other choice did we have?" Kaim paused. "When we finally got out of that hell hole, she didn't even remember us! All of our suffering for a girl that doesn't even know who we are!"

"Kaim…" Rayn mumbled.

Kaim shook his head. "Don't you remember? When we got away from them?"

_Kaim, Abrin, Rayn, and the girl sat near an ocean, panting._

_"I-It's a dead end…" Abrin stated disdainfully. The others stared at the seemingly endless ocean. _

_Kaim shook his head._ _"No…It can't be! We can still__"_

_"Stop, Kaim." The girl interrupted. "We don't have a boat, there's no way we can get across without one," she stated in her calmer voice. _

_The four then suddenly heard a crackling laugh followed by words._ _"So, you all wish to escape this world and to leave the ones who tormented you so?" the voice questioned. Everyone sharply turned their heads around until an eerie green and black fire burst before them, revealing a tall, pale woman wearing a long black robe._

_"W-Who are you?" Rayn asked, slightly bothered by the woman. The woman merely laughed._

_"My name is of no importance now. What is important is that I have a way for you to see your friend again…but you won't like the results," she offered. _

_Kaim stepped forward._ _"We'll do what it takes," he stated. The others looked at him warily. "But first, what are the results?" The woman summoned her staff and slammed the bottom on the ground, causing a patch of green and black fire to appear in front of them. Further examination of the fire led them to see Aya walking around a town with three miniature ducks; each adorning either a red, blue, or green shirt._

_"It's Aya!" Abrin concluded._

_"Are those ducks talking?" the girl wondered. _

_The woman grinned._ _"Your friend is in a land known as Traverse Town, but don't feel at ease. The girl remembers nothing of you all. And she never will." _

_Kaim clenched his hands into fists. "Yeah, right! Aya would never forget about us! I wanna see for myself!" Kaim declared. With everyone else in agreement, the woman took her staff and slammed it to the ground once more, engulfing them in fire and causing them to disappear._

_"Don't think I'm helping you brats for my well-being. I expect something in return…" the woman's voice echoed, followed by a crackling laugh._

_Kaim, Abrin, Rayn, and the girl appeared in a town that was bordered with stores, including one that had three small ducks standing in front of it. Kaim seen them and motioned the others to follow him._

_"Guys…those are the three ducks Aya was with," Kaim stated, still a little disorientated from their trip._

_"Maybe they know where she is!" Rayn exclaimed more excitedly than he had lately. The four approached the ducklings._

_"Hey, have you seen a girl named Aya? You know, long purple hair, sarcastic?" the girl asked. _

_The one in red spoke up._ _"You guys know Aya?" he wondered. _

_Kaim nodded._ _"Yeah, we're friends of hers," he replied, wishing they would hurry up and tell them where she was._

_"She's sitting on a rooftop over there!" the blue one answered._

_"Hope you find her!" the one in green encouraged. _

_They all nodded their heads._ _"Thanks," Kaim thanked._

_The four finally found the rooftop which sat a girl with shoulder length purple hair that was wrapped into one braid. Relief struck the quartet as they walked up to her._

_"Aya!" Abrin exclaimed. Aya turned her head back to see the four smiling faces. _

_After a long pause, Aya finally spoke._ _"Who are you guys?" She then turned her head. "If it's the IRS, I'll have my munny when I have my munny." _

_The four sweatdropped as Kaim went into an awkward laughter._ _"What do you mean? We're your best friends, remember? We all lived in the same town together."_

_Aya shook her head._ _"Sorry, maybe you have the wrong person." _

_Kaim's heart dropped once he heard those words. The looks on the others' seemed to give off the same feeling. His sadness quickly turned to rage._ _"You can't be serious! We came all this way just to find you! There's no way we got the wrong person!" Kaim exclaimed._

_"Kaim…" The girl warned. _

_Aya shrugged her shoulders._ _"You can be mad at me all you want, but I don't know who you are. I hope you find who you're looking for." _

_Kaim balled his hands into fists and stormed off._ _"I hope I do too…Come on, guys!" Kaim commanded. Everyone was hesitant to leave, but followed Kaim inevitably. Rayn, however, stayed behind, causing Kaim to turn back. "Well, come on!" He demanded. Rayn gave a long sigh as he caught up with them._

_The four sat defeated on the curb of the dark town near an alleyway. They were then met with the familiar burst of green and black fire that placed them in this mess in the first place._

_"Well, did you see what you wished?" the woman questioned. _

_Abrin glared at her._ _"Far from it! I don't get it, what would make her just forget?" he wondered. _

_The woman chuckled._ _"It's simple. It's not that she has forgotten, but that she doesn't want to remember. She clearly wishes to forget you all and her past. She's already made new friends. She's fine without you all." The four remained silent, not being able to oppose her claim for a second time._

_"It's like…we came here for nothing…" the girl stated, showing her first bit of emotion in a while._

_"Well, that's not quite the case. I believe I may be able to help you all…but you must do something for me." _

_Kaim sat solemnly before standing to his feet._ _"I'll do it." _

_The woman grinned._ _"Is he the only one?" _

_The remaining three looked at each other._ _"I'm going too," the girl stated as she walked towards Kaim and the woman. Abrin was slightly hesitant, yet traversed by the others._

_"Count me in," he stated just above a whisper. All eyes were now on Rayn. He sat uncomfortably, thinking about how his friends could join this shady woman and go against their friend._

_"Well? Are you in or not?" Kaim pressed in a tense voice. _

_Rayn looked away as he stood up._ _"I…can't." He then leered at every last one of them in the eye, stopping at Kaim. "I won't join you all. Aya's my friend, I'm not gonna leave her now." _

_Kaim scoffed at him._ _"We're trying to help get her memories back! The only thing you'll accomplish by staying here is being shunned away!" Kaim protested halfheartedly. Rayn said nothing. The woman summoned her staff._

_"Is that your final decision?" she questioned. Rayn nodded. She slammed the staff on the ground, causing the familiar fire to shroud them. The last thing Rayn seen was Kaim glaring heavily at him._

"We were trying to help her; all you did was sit back in a corner, too afraid to do anything!" Kaim shouted.

"Well what are you trying to do now! Are you still trying to help, because it doesn't look that way to me!" Rayn snapped back. Kaim tightened his fists.

"No, I'm not! I admit it! Ever since she denied us that day, I was set on vengeance! She doesn't deserve our help! She's a lost cause! She's not even making an attempt to remember after the turmoil we went through because of her!"

"Do you even know if it was her who opened the door or not! It could've been anyone!" Rayn protested.

"But the townspeople said─"

"The townspeople were in a state of paranoia and needed someone to blame! Aya's disappearance was just an opportunity to accuse someone! Am I really the one who abandoned her, or was it her 'friends' that didn't even question whether or not she did it in the first place!"

Kaim abruptly stopped. What could he say? He did just assume that the townspeople were telling the truth. He shook his head and turned around. "You better hope that I don't see you again. If I do, next time won't end as well as this…" A dark corridor appeared as Kaim walked through.

Rayn sighed. He then heard shuffling behind him. He turned to see Aya stumbling to her feet. "Aya!" Rayn rushed over to her, yet was met with a hand in his face.

"Ugh…it feels like I was hit with twenty baseball bats…" Rayn sweatdropped.

"I'm just glad you're alright," he stated.

Aya yawned. "By the way…where are we?"

**A.N- And there's the chapter! Since I didn't know where they should go, I made this a flashback chapter. Pretty clever, huh? You don't have to send in a suggestion anymore, I figured it out! I'll try to update soon! Thanks for reading and review! Bye Mee! ^o^**


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N- Heartarrow56 here! This chapter, depending on how much I add or subtract when I type it, should be a little longer than the others. So without further ado, here's the chapter! Read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that I don't own…yeah. I just put a redundant line there.**

**Claimer: I own everything that I own. (I'm in that kind of mood today…-_-)**

CH. 9: You should always try to Bargain

Rayn took a look at their surroundings. Surprisingly, he hadn't even examined where he was the entire time he was awake. The area seemed to be an open field outside a city. The only thing that you could see from the city was a few tall buildings and a giant clock. Aya shook her head as she thought.

"It looks like London. London, England," she commented. Rayn sighed in agreement after examining the clock and realizing that it was Big Ben.

"Looks like it," he stated.

Aya then sweat-dropped. "Then I got a question, why are there like five Earths in this game?"

Rayn also sweat-dropped. "Aya, you're breaking the fourth wall again…" he muttered.

Aya puffed her cheeks out. "Yeah well, whatever," she responded as Rayn started for the city.

"Well, we might as well go see if they have any materials since Pimp 2 is probably…"

"PIMP 2! Where are you, buddy! Pimp 2!" Aya shouted, interrupting Rayn's statement. Pounding her fist in her hand, she came to the only rational conclusion she could think of. "Someone stole it! That's the only solution!" Okay, maybe not so rational.

"It could be in the field somewhere…" he suggested, receiving a death glare from Aya.

"Think about it, Rayn," Aya started, inviting him to create a scenario of a situation they are currently in, "We're standing in a field that has nothing in it. I'm pretty sure we would see Pimp 2 sticking out of the ground," she explained.

"That does make sense, but isn't the idea of thieves stealing it just as far-fetched?" he questioned. Questioning Aya lately has proven to be a bad move, for she always seems to end it triumphantly.

Aya sighed at his "ignorance" as she calls it. "Thieves are crafty, Rayn. If they think that something is worth money, they'll do whatever it takes to get their sticky fingers on it."

While Rayn trotted, defeated, and Aya marched, triumphant, a figure slowly walked some miles behind them. He observed them with caution. "There you are…"

Entering the city, it was already apparent that heartless were running rampant. Aya was already getting sick of fighting the heartless creatures.

"Heartless already? That's a new record…" Aya muttered. Rayn took out his staff and fought the higher level heartless while Aya took out her foot on the lower level heartless with her trademark kick to the building. Glancing around the area, mostly to see if there were any more heartless to kick, she seen a boy with short blond hair and adorning a brown outfit with red tights was surrounded by heartless. One of which he managed to fend off slightly.

"Aya, we have to help him!" Rayn protested.

Aya nodded. "Got it." She ran towards the boy and grinned. "Yo, heartless freaks! I just saved fifteen percent on my car insurance, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Aya shouted, effectively getting their attention. Rayn stared in disbelief. _'That worked?'_ he thought. He took his staff and swept the heartless off their feet as Aya jumped, successfully taking out some of the heartless. Aya then stomped down on the remaining ones.

Once the heartless were taken care of, the boy faced the two. "Thank you! That was amazing! You all aren't squires, are you?" he asked.

Aya stared at him blankly, giving Rayn the initiative to speak. "Let's just start with introductions. I'm Rayn and this is Aya."

The boy seemed abashed. "I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself. My name is Arthur, but everyone calls me Wart."

Aya sweatdropped. "Do you…like the name Wart?" she questioned. Really, who would want that nickname?

He shrugged. "I don't mind it," he replied.

Aya shook her head, obviously not wanting to start with him. "What were you doing out here on your own?" she questioned.

"After these dark creatures came, I thought this would be a good time to train my strength and bravery."

"We see how that ended…" Aya muttered, gaining an elbow to her side from Rayn. "Ow!" Rayn sighed.

"Why were you training?" he wondered.

Wart smiled as a dreamy look took over. "Because, I'm going to be a squire. I have to train and become strong!" he told him.

"How old are you?" Aya asked in a disbelieving tone, gaining her another elbow to the side. "Ow! What the heck!"

Wart chuckled. "I'm thirteen," he responded.

"Isn't there someone who can mentor you?" Rayn inquired.

Wart sighed. "Well, there was a wizard named Merlin, but when the dark creatures attacked, he said that he had to go for a while…"

The image of the wizard with the long white beard with the blue robe haunted Aya's mind. _'It can't be. There's no way he's talking about the same Merlin,'_ she thought.

"This Merlin, he wouldn't happen to have a long white beard and wears a blue robe, do he?" Aya questioned.

Wart's face lit up. "You know Merlin?" he asked. Aya face palmed. _'Of course it is…'_ Aya thought disdainfully. He smiled expectantly at them. Aya could've sworn that was an award winning face he threw at them. "He told me that he was going to send two people to train me until he gets back." How convenient. Aya and Rayn glanced at each other. The latter then noticed the familiar twang in the former's eyes that always seemed to deter him mentally. He decided that he better hurry before it was too late.

"Sorry, but we're─"

"A little late is all! Merlin did in fact send us!" Aya interrupted. Rayn face palmed. _'I knew it…'_ he thought.

Wart smiled. "Really!" he asked gleefully.

This made Aya chuckle. "You sure are a cheeky fellow, Gilligan!" Aya stated. Rayn sweatdropped while Wart seemed confused. Obviously everyone's mind didn't work as fast as Aya's.

"Gilligan?" they both asked.

Aya nodded. "Yes, I thought that Wart wasn't a suitable name for an apprentice of Aya the Great, so Gilligan was the best choice."

"You could call him by his name…" Rayn suggested, just to find that he was being ignored.

"Alright, Gilligan, you're gonna be a star! You'll be in books, stories, even the big motion pictures!" Aya fantasized.

"Uh, I just want to be a squire," he stated to no avail.

"Yep, a star," Aya mused.

The three walked through the forest, which oddly reminded Aya of a game she used to play with an elf like boy that never really talked trying to save a princess, and stopped near a bundle of trees with long branches. Aya faced Wart. "Alright Gilligan, lesson one. Be aware at all times. Whether you know or not, you should rely on all of your senses to guide you."

Wart nodded slightly, not sure what she meant. "So you want me to be aware…if I'm not aware?" he questioned.

Aya pulled off a sash she was wearing and tied it over his eyes. "Maybe this will help; walk around and do not hit one of these trees," Aya commanded.

"But I can't see," he stated.

Aya pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course you can't see, that's the point," she told him.

"Try to use your other senses to lead you around the trees," Rayn suggested. Wart nodded as he began to walk aimlessly around the forest. Aya and Rayn climbed into trees so they wouldn't lose him or distract him. Just then, Wart hit a tree, and another tree…and another tree.

"Oww…" he groaned as he rubbed his forehead, which was the main focus of the tree's wrath.

"It's fine, keep trying. After you walked a whole minute without hitting a tree, we'll stop," Aya told him. Wart, taking Aya's advice, rose to her feet and attempted to walk again. Suddenly, heartless appeared around him, much to Aya's disdain.

"Crap, I'm going down there," Aya stated.

"Wait," Rayn whispered. He handed Aya a box that had two knives with white handles that had a design of a gold dragon on the sides. "Use your magic from up here. There's a better vantage point." Aya didn't get a chance to marvel at her new weapons that Rayn had gifted her, for she was a bit wary about using magic. The wariness quickly passed once she saw the heartless nearing Wart. She took one of the knives and aimed, Rayn followed suit.

"Fire!" she whispered. That last thing she wanted to do was cause Wart to panic. The fire hit one of the heartless, just barely missing Wart. "Sorry Gilligan," she whispered.

"Blizzard!" Rayn said, freezing two heartless. Aya stuck with fire, she didn't dare try thunder with Wart walking around. The last of the heartless almost appeared to be testing Aya's patience as it lunged for Wart, at which Aya leapt from the tree and landed on it, ultimately showing it who's boss. Seeming to be on cue, Wart turned around and removed his blindfold.

"Did I do well?" he asked.

Exasperated, Aya gave him a thumbs up. "Good," she stated as she took the blindfold and put it on her arm. "I think that's good for today."

Wart then remembered something. "Oh no! What time is it?" he asked. Aya and Rayn shrugged their shoulders, because apparently, the times on these worlds are always different. In Traverse Town, it always looks like nighttime while Hollow Bastion looks more like dawn. "I have to run errands for my foster brother. I need to be back at a certain time!"

Aya smiled. She couldn't help but to think that she reminded her of her sister. Wait a second, her sister? She has a sister? Maybe she was thinking of one of those Brady Bunch kids. "Well, I guess we better hurry!" The three ran out of the forest and into the city. As they went through the city to collect goods, Aya glanced at Wart. "Hey, Gilligan…you said you had a foster brother…does that mean that you're an orphan?" she wondered. Wart smiled slightly.

"Yeah, but I have Sir Kay, he's a squire," Wart explained.

Aya paused as she tried to put two and two together. "Let me get this straight, you didn't have anyone to teach you to be a squire although your foster brother is a squire. You then enlisted the help of a kooky old wizard and two random teenagers for help?"

Wart nodded after thinking for a while. She made it sound pretty stupid. "I guess so," he responded.

Aya face palmed. "I don't get this place…" she muttered.

The trio waltzed into a store, mostly to get shoe polish for Sir Kay, when a girl with platinum blond hair wearing a black coat with a hood was causing mayhem in the store. She was surrounded by five white creatures that Aya immediately recognized as Nobodies, similar to the ones Abrin called at Hollow Bastion yet different. Rayn, however, wasn't focusing on the Nobodies, but the person herself.

"Celeste!" Rayn exclaimed. The girl glanced over at them, sustaining her stoic expression.

"The Oblivious and the Traitor. What a fitting pair," she stated.

Aya grinned. "Another one? She seems to be a bit…lackluster compared to the others," Aya said as Celeste stared holes into their heads.

"Have she managed to remember anything?" she questioned.

Rayn glared at her. "That's none of your business," he sneered.

Celeste scoffed. "Hmm…that's too bad," Celeste stated as she sent the Nobodies towards them. To say the least, Nobodies were much harder to deal with than Heartless. It almost seemed as if Nobodies actually think while Heartless acted on instinct. Two Nobodies attacked Rayn as he tried to fend them off. The other three headed towards Aya and Wart.

"Gilligan, get out of here! Get the people out too!" Aya commanded. Wart nodded as he led the terrified people out the building, receiving a shout from the store owner to not destroy the building. "Rayn, we can't fight here!" Aya told him as she was already getting bruised pretty badly.

"You're right. This building is gonna crash if we keep it up," Rayn stated while almost immediately after getting cut by a Nobody.

"That's not what I meant," Aya started. "They have a sale on shoe polish! Three for the price of one! I can teach Gilligan about bargaining!" Rayn would've face palmed if he hadn't been tossed into a wall. After they defeated the Nobodies, they were already spent on energy. Celeste just stared and summoned her weapon, a large grey ax with a long handle and a serrated blade. It glowed with an ominous purplish-black aura.

"So it's come to this. You gotta reap what you sow," Celeste told them. Suddenly, a burst of lightning struck all around the shop, temporarily blinding Celeste and the others.

Aya suddenly heard a voice in her head. "Hurry! Walk forward!" the familiar voice urged. Aya smirked. "Oh yeah, a strange voice telling me to walk to the light, that's not suspicious at all!" she commented as she stepped forward.

Aya squinted her eyes open, allowing them to readjust to the light. To her right stood Rayn, gaping at an obviously unbelievable sight. She turned to see none other than Abrin holding, to Aya's surprise, a Keyblade.

"Abrin…what's up?" Aya asked nonchalantly.

Rayn sweat-dropped. "Don't you see, he has a Keyblade!" Rayn told her.

Aya sneered. "I know that, but I can't have the readers see me surprised!" Aya protested. The two continued bickering, well more like Aya telling Rayn how she has an "image" to uphold, until Abrin cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

Aya and Rayn turned to him, obviously forgetting that he was there. "You saved us, why?" Rayn questioned, expecting an ulterior motive.

Abrin stared them dead in the eyes before answering. "Because…I need your help," he muttered, catching the duo by surprise.

"Our help? Do we look like your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart?" Aya commented, only to get another elbow to her side. "I'm getting real tired of that!" she exclaimed to Rayn.

"What for?" Rayn asked.

Abrin looked away, it almost appeared as if he was ashamed of what he was about to say. "Organization XIII," he started, catching their attention. "Kaim was set on vengeance ever since he found that Aya didn't remember him. Maleficent convinced us that revenge was the only option. Soon after, Kaim betrayed her and had us all join him with the Organization."

"I thought the Organization only had members without hearts." Aya mentioned, remembering what Sora and the others told her about them.

Abrin nodded his head. "I thought so too, but they seemed to make an exception for this thing," he explained, swinging his Keyblade around carelessly. He then chuckled. "We're not even a part of the main Organization. They placed us in a separate group, OBS, the Organization Backup Stratagem."

Aya folded her arms as Rayn decided to speak. "I still don't see what you need our help with," he admitted.

Abrin gritted his teeth. "To make sure that I kept my loyalty to them, they imprisoned my sister…I tried to stop them, but I wasn't strong enough by myself," Abrin stated. Although he kept a pretty straight face as he told them, Aya could tell that he was trying to repress some strong emotions. A piercing pain suddenly shot through Aya's head as a picture of a young girl with big green eyes and cobalt blue hair drifted through.

"Tsu-Tsukasa…" Aya muttered.

Abrin glanced at her with slight relief. "You remember…" He then smiled. "Yeah, that's her…I promised her that she would be out of harm's way…heh, we all see how good of a job I did…" Abrin paused. "If I don't save her, I'll never live this down!"

Aya gazed at him for a while then sighed. Here comes the rational gene you rarely see. "If the Organization needs you, most likely they'll send someone to come get you. They would most likely use Tsukasa as bait to lure you back and if you still refuse to go, they'll probably use force to retrieve you; dead or alive," Aya determined. Rayn and Abrin gaped at her. She looked at them. "What?"

"That was…insightful." Rayn finally stated.

Abrin nodded. "Yeah," Abrin agreed.

Aya crossed her arms. "Underestimating, much? Just because I don't say things like this often doesn't mean I'm not thinking it. It just takes more effort to say it," she told them.

"Yes…that was insightful," an unfamiliar voice to Aya and Rayn stated. Abrin thought as to who the voice could belong to. His thought was answered when a man with light blue hair and an 'X' scar on his face appeared before them. "And you're correct."

Abrin gritted his teeth at the person who actually went out of his way to kidnap his sister while Aya stared blankly at him. "Saïx…" Abrin muttered disdainfully.

"Hey who are you?" Aya asked flatly. After blatantly ignoring Aya, much to her irritation, he faced Abrin.

"You have no business to be out, especially around them. Xemnas ordered your immediate return," he told him.

"What are you, his dog?" Aya commented towards Saïx.

Abrin sneered. "You don't tell me what to do! I'm just your stupid backup plan! I don't listen to you, Xemnas, or anyone!" Abrin shot out. Saïx retained what Aya assumed was a poker face as he stared Abrin down.

"Don't you wish for your sister's safety?" he questioned, although it was plain to see that he really didn't care.

"I'm gonna save her! You don't have any reigns on me!" Abrin told him. Saïx remained expressionless. _'Geez, this guy takes "no heart" to another level,'_ Aya thought.

"Very well. I'm not here to force you to return. You are not that important…yet. You are just a backup plan." A dark corridor appeared behind Saïx. "But believe me, the moment you get in our way, we won't hesitate to strike you down or exploit your sister," he clarified as he stepped through the corridor.

Abrin seethed in anger, clenching his hands in fists. "Damn…them…" he muttered. Aya placed a hand on his shoulder. To his surprise, she seemed oddly serious.

"Don't worry; we'll save your sister," she then grinned. "Besides, that seems like fun to irritate!" Rayn started to laugh after a warm smile.

Abrin glanced at the two before laughing as well. He then glanced at Aya. "You don't mind? Especially after all the pain I caused you…" he trailed off.

Aya shook her head, knowing where he was going with the statement. "No problem." She then got an almost demonic grin on her face. "Besides, there'll be plenty of opportunities for you to make it up to me. I will hold you to this."

Abrin sweat-dropped. "Why doesn't that sound pleasant?" he wondered.

Rayn sighed in understanding. "I know your pain…" Rayn stated.

Aya then smirked. "I guess it's settled then, off to Pimp 2!" Aya declared.

Rayn placed his hand on her shoulder now. "Um, Aya, we crash landed here. Pimp 2 is probably in ruins wherever it is."

Aya stopped in her tracks. Seeing the situation they were in, Aya pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ehh…okay, this is what we're gonna do," she started. First she pointed at Abrin. "First we need to get you some new clothes; you look like a member of a flash mob that's never coming. Second, we have to get some supplies so you guys can fix Pimp 2 if we find it all."

Rayn and Abrin nodded their heads, the latter examining his attire. "That sounds like a plan," Rayn concurred.

Aya glanced away. "I still think it was the thieves though…" she muttered under her breath.

The three preceded into a clothing store, Abrin receiving wary eyes from the store clerks. After browsing for what seemed like hours, Aya sighed defeated. "I think we should go to a different store…" Rayn suggested.

"You're right," Aya agreed. "These people dress like they live under a color blind rock," she mumbled, granting her a slap aside the head by the store's manager.

"You ungrateful─!" the manager shouted. Aya rubbed the back of her head. Surprisingly, getting slapped by an angry person trying to get money isn't a good feeling. Rayn took this as a hint to hurry and get Aya out of there before she decided to bomb the place or something. Apparently, that was a good call, considering that Aya was swearing like a sailor towards the manager, getting them all banned from the store.

Abrin crossed his arms. "Nice work, Aya. Now we're banned from a store," he jeered.

Aya leered at him. "Whatever, at least I don't look like a thief. We probably would've been banned eventually with that long black coat," she retorted.

Abrin groaned. "At least they didn't send us to jail," Rayn pointed out. The three laughed.

"Yeah, that would've been a bad day. Aya probably would've persuaded them to let us go with her smart mouth!" Abrin stated.

Aya playfully punched him on the arm. "Hey!" She stated defensively, causing them to laugh louder. Rayn couldn't help but feel nostalgic. _'Just like old times…'_ he thought. Everyone else must have felt the same, even Aya, for they all stopped and stood in an awkward silence.

Suddenly, Wart ran up to the three, panting for breath. "A-Aya…Rayn…" he panted. Although he seemed distressed, Aya was glad for the break in the silence.

"What is it, Gilligan?" Aya wondered.

Wart didn't hesitate to reply. "Down near the marketplace, it's that girl from the store earlier in the black coat," he then glanced at Abrin and jerked back. "Like his…"

Noticing the wariness on Wart's face, Rayn patted him on the back. "Don't worry, Arthur. He's with us," Rayn reassured much to Wart's relief.

"She has a group of citizens held hostage by those white and black creatures! They're all blindfolded. She had me hostage, but I managed to escape," he further explained.

"How?" Abrin questioned.

Wart smiled proudly at Aya and Rayn. "My temporary mentors taught me how to "see" without my eyes," he told him. Pride filled Aya's heart, although she would never show them. Usually she would, but not this time.

"Do you know how to get there?" Aya asked.

Wart nodded. "I'll lead the way!" Wart determined, happy that he could be useful. Aya glanced at the others who nodded in agreement. The sky began to turn a putrid shade of purple.

"I guess we should hurry then…"

**A.N- That's the chapter! A longer one than usual and Aya seem to have had slight character build. Well, I will try to update soon, but knowing me, that will probably take a little over a week if not longer. -_- Well, thanks for reading and review! ^o^**


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N- Yay! We've made it to chapter 10! Let's just get right to it then!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the things that don't have my name on it.**

**Claimer: I own the things that do have my name on it. Like this story. Heartarrow56.**

CH. 10: The New Team

Wart led the trio to an area where dozens of people surrounded. Aya, Rayn, and Abrin weaved their way through the crowd, with Wart slightly behind, and sure enough saw Celeste with a group of hostages before her. She was also surrounded by Heartless and Nobodies, causing Aya to groan slightly. _'Great, that's just what we need, the Heartless and Nobodies working together. What a hassle…' _she thought.

"You came…" Celeste muttered. Then, much to her surprise, she noticed Abrin standing side by side with Aya and Rayn. She closed her eyes. "So…we have another traitor in the midst. What a pity." Sensing the hostility from Celeste, Abrin quickly dodged the attack from the Nobody she sent to attack him. "I suppose it's fitting, considering you secretly admired that girl since our childhood." Abrin's face flushed slightly red as he turned his head away.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! Aya is annoying, why would I admire her?" Abrin grumbled as he protested.

Aya returned the comment with a glare. "Oh, thanks. I'll remember that the next time you ask for a drink," Aya threatened under her breath. Aya pulled out her twin knives and sighed. She really hated hostage situations almost as much as escort missions on video games. "Let's just get these hostages and go," Aya groaned.

Rayn nodded as Abrin leapt back to them. "We can't go about this normally; other people's lives are involved. We need a plan," Rayn explained. Just then, as if knowing that they needed more things to worry about, Wart caught up with them.

"What are you guys planning to do?" he asked them. The three glanced at each other; hoping one of them would have an idea.

"Have you all no plan at all?" Celeste questioned. The three glared at her, Aya particularly hoping that she could burn a hole through Celeste's head. "Then I will make my move." She summoned her battle axe and lunged for them, along with the other Heartless and Nobodies. Individually, they might have been able to take them, but the Heartless, Nobodies, and Celeste together was suicide.

"Abrin! Can't you summon some Nobodies to help out or something?" Rayn questioned.

Abrin shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. I personally can't summon any Nobodies," he said as he was slapped back with Celeste's battle axe.

As Aya staggered back, she stepped in something that she noticed all of the hostages seemed to be covered in. After further examination, Aya's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Is this…?"

"Gasoline? Alcohol? Both are correct. One spark will send these people into a fiery oblivion," Celeste stated too calmly to be human.

"You're gonna burn them alive!" Abrin questioned, disturbed by his former friend's ruthlessness.

She glanced at him. "If it comes to it…yes," she stated simply.

Wart gazed with disbelief when he suddenly had an idea. "I got it!" He shouted as he darted through the crowd.

Aya took her knives out. Remembering that she only knew fire and thunder, she decided to stick with hand to hand combat for fear of sparking the gasoline and dooming the citizens to a fiery death. "Why exactly are you doing this? Are you a sadist?" Aya wondered.

Celeste remained stoic. "The necklace," she told them.

Aya glanced at Rayn with confusion as he shrugged. "The necklace?" Rayn inquired, seemingly more curious than anything.

Celeste nodded her head. "The necklace that we all received. Kaim requested that they all be brought to him. No exceptions," she explained.

Abrin sneered. "So what? Kaim's being a brat and doesn't want us to have the gift he gave us anymore?" he retorted.

Celeste scoffed. "Hardly. But you wouldn't understand. If you didn't run away, you would have been briefed with the details. Well, it hardly matters now and I suppose it's for the best that you weren't informed." She snapped her fingers as a few more Heartless appeared. Strangely, even though the Nobodies dealt more damage, she failed to summon more.

Aya grinned at the fact. "What's wrong? No more Nobodies?" Aya jeered.

"Don't underestimate me. I have no need to waste Nobodies on the likes of you," she replied.

"It seems like we're the ones being underestimated!" Rayn shot. He glanced at Abrin, who responded with a smirk.

"Let's go!" Abrin exclaimed.

Rayn took his staff with a tighter grip. "Blizzard!" Rayn shouted, aiming towards the ground. Abrin leapt over him with Keyblade in hand and slid on the ice. "Blizzard! Blizzard! Blizzard!" Rayn continued, keeping up with Abrin and where Celeste was dodging. Aya caught on and readied herself. Abrin eventually caught up with Celeste and struck her with the Keyblade, tossing her high in the air. Rayn pointed his staff at her. "Blizzard!" he shouted, freezing her. Knowing the sparks wouldn't ignite at the high altitude, Aya aimed with her knives.

"Fire!" she shouted. This melted the ice, leaving Celeste drenched in water. Abrin leapt and struck her higher in the air, preparing his final attack.

"Thunder!" The lightning struck Celeste as she yelped in pain. The two landed on the ground, Celeste obviously having a harder fall. Although it was obvious that she was badly hurt, it also seemed as if she could keep fighting for hours as she stood to her feet.

"Good technique. But it won't work again," she promised. Little did she know, while she was distracted, Wart was climbing a ladder behind her carrying a bucket. Abrin, Aya, and Rayn continued to keep her attention in fear that she would notice him and do something to him.

"Oh yeah, you're not so tough once you're in the air. And without those Nobodies of yours, we can take you out no problem," Aya jeered.

Celeste scoffed again. "You're forgetting one detail; these hostages are at my mercy. I'm feeling very unforgiving. Surrender or they burn." Rayn gritted his teeth. Who could say stuff like that without a shred of empathy? All hope that he could get his old friends back were lost.

"Not so fast!" Wart called out as he poured the contents of the bucket on Celeste.

"What?" Celeste questioned under her breath.

Wart tensed up as she glared at him. "I-If you're going to light those people on fire, then you're sealing yourself to the same fate!" he told her, gaining confidence as he spoke. "You're completely drenched in alcohol, if you set a spark, you'll catch fire too," he further explained.

Celeste just stared at him, ignoring the comments from Aya. "Ha! Take that! Good going, Gilligan!"

Wart responded with a sheepish smile, while Celeste scoffed once more. "I suppose I miscalculated some things…" she muttered. She looked towards Aya. "You'll get what's coming to you." To this, Aya responded by sticking her tongue out. She then glanced at Abrin. "And you…good luck against the Organization." Then she disappeared into a dark corridor.

Wart steadily climbed down and helped the others untie the hostages. "That was brilliant, Gilligan!" Aya praised.

Wart slightly blushed. "No, if I didn't have good mentors like you, I never would have thought of that," Wart said.

Aya shook her head. "No, wisdom and wit isn't something that a mentor can teach you. It's gained through experience. You did a good job." Aya told him. Rayn and Abrin smiled at this. After all, it was rare for Aya to make a bond with someone.

The citizens that were freed cheered as one rushed up to Aya. "You, was it you who saved our lives?"

Aya glanced at Wart and grinned. "Actually, it was my friend here." Aya told them, pointing at Wart.

His face lit up with surprise as the former hostages surrounded him. "Thank you, young one!" one person said.

"So brave for a young child," another praised.

"What do we call you? I'll request that the royal squire dedicates a special ceremony for you!" yet another asked.

Wart seemed happy, but even more so overwhelmed by the situation. "Um, my name is Arthur, but everyone calls me Wart…" he mentioned, trailing off a little. The former hostages continued to thank him and surround him as Aya and the others began to walk away. Wart noticed this and called for her. "Aya!" he shouted.

She wasn't surprised. She simply turned her head and smiled. "You did a good job. You can only do great things from here," she told him.

Wart seemed confused, and then smiled in understanding. "Thank you!" he exclaimed.

Rayn flashed a smile at Aya's kindness. Noticing this, Aya blushed then looked away. "Don't expect this often. I was just being nice…" Aya muttered. Abrin snickered, right before getting a face full of slap. "And what are you laughing at!"

"What was that for!" he complained as he rubbed his face.

Aya crossed her arms. "For being an idiot," she responded oh so shrewdly. This sparked an argument between the two. Rayn sighed. _'They're fighting again…but we really need to find our Gummi Ship or we'll be stuck here…'_ he thought.

Aya then, as if on cue, pounded her fist in her hand. "Geez, we're fighting again! We really need to find our Gummi Ship or we'll be stuck here!" she stated.

"You're right! God looking out, Aya!" Abrin commended. Rayn gazed at them in disbelief. _'That was…redundant…'_ he thought.

"But where do we even look I wonder…" Aya mumbled.

Abrin glanced towards the nearby forest and noticed a giant piece of metal and some small circling lights. "How about over there?" he suggested, pointing at the described area.

Aya and Rayn peered at the direction and witnessed the same thing. "What is that?" Rayn questioned.

Aya marched pass him and into the forest. "I guess we'll have to go and see. It's probably the thieves!" she stated confidently. Rayn sighed as he shook his head. Is a little substance too much to ask for? To say the least, the three of them were surprised at the sight they were met with. Before them were five small fairy-like creatures flying around the now pink "Pimpette". The fairies, however, stopped once they noticed Aya and the others. "Wh-Wh─" Aya started, causing the fairies to cringe a bit. "What the hell is this!" she shouted, resulting in four of the five fairies to run, well more so fly, and hide. The remaining fairy stood firm before her.

"This is our ship! We found it, fixed it up, and decorated it!" the fairy protested.

"Like hell it is," Aya stated, calming down. "This is 'Pimp 2'. We crash landed here. Since you thought that pink was a suitable color to vandalize my property then perhaps it's only natural to return the favor," she told her as she took one of the tiny paint brushes and painted the fairy pink.

"Ack! How dare you! Do you know who I am! I am a member of the FRP!"

She, the fairy, was suddenly grabbed by Aya. "Do you know who I am? I'm pissed. Don't give me that FRLMNOP crap," she jeered.

"Aya, let go of the fairy." Rayn commanded. Aya reluctantly let go after debating the matter with herself. "FRP? What's that?" Rayn asked as the fairy caught her breath.

"That's classified information you─" The fairy was interrupted by Aya grabbing her and squeezing the life out of her. "Ack! Okay, okay! The FRP is the Fairy Reconnaissance Project!" she exclaimed. Aya happily let her go.

"Fairy Reconnaissance Project? Sounds like a joke to me. Are you sure you and your little friends didn't just make this up?" Abrin questioned, only to get a thump to the forehead by the irritated fairy.

"Of course not! The head fairy sent out six squads to travel the worlds and report on the condition of them." She then glanced at the darker purple sky. "By the looks of things, this world is in serious trouble!"

"The Keyhole!" Abrin exclaimed, kicking himself for not noticing it sooner. Then he looked around. "But where would it be?"

"When we were with Sora and the others, Mulan's sword she was given became the Keyhole. Maybe it's something important or special here," Rayn suggested. The others nodded.

"Then let's not waste any time!" the fairy stated.

Aya, Abrin, and Rayn glanced at her. "What, you're coming too?" Aya questioned in slight disbelief. The fairy crossed her arms as if she was offended.

"This is Akoyumi, captain of Squad Two you're talking to! I can handle anything people like you can handle!" Aya sweatdropped. _'I don't know whether to be impressed or take it as an insult…'_ she thought. The four ran into the city to see that it was overrun with Heartless.

"We need to find something important or special! Do you know anything?" Abrin wondered as he slashed through Heartless with his Keyblade.

"We just got here! The only important thing I can think of is that shoe polish on sale!"Aya retorted.

"Well that's helpful," he muttered. They attempted to ask some nearby city folk, but this only resulted in all lot of people screaming "We're all gonna die!" or "It's the apocalypse!"

But just then, as if by some miracle, they ran into Wart. "Wart!" Rayn exclaimed.

Wart stumbled before them. "The dark creatures, there are three times as many as before!" he exclaimed.

Rayn placed his hands on his shoulders. "Calm down. Now, I need you to tell me something. What is the most important thing here?" he questioned.

Wart instantly replied, knowing the answer to the simple question. "That's easy. It's the sword in the stone. When the king died, they needed a way to choose the next king since he had no descendants."

"Can you take us there?" Abrin asked.

Wart nodded. "If it'll get everything back to normal, then of course!" Aya groaned at the situation. _'Let me guess, escort mission…'_

Surprising to Aya, Wart seemed to be fairly good at staying out of the way as Aya, Abrin, and Rayn took out the Heartless and shot magic. He even helped take out some of the weaker Heartless. Finally, the five (including Ako) approached, literally, a sword in a stone. Aya sweatdropped. "I didn't think it would be that literal…" Aya admitted. "So what, did you guys stab a sword in a rock and expected it to make someone king?" Rayn elbowed her in the side, only to be met with an irritated glare. "Enough of that!"

"Well, it doesn't matter. Let's just lock this Keyhole and─" Just as Abrin began to speak, the ground began to shake violently.

Before anyone, Aya mainly, had a chance to complain, a giant emblem Heartless leapt down in front of them. This Heartless adorned purple armor that hovered above its body. A metal-like laser gun was placed in the armor hands of the Heartless. To say the least, Aya gaped at the sudden appearance. "Uh…yeah. Excuse me. We kinda need to get to that sword, so if you could just scoot over, it would be much─" The Heartless, which she later found was named the Disintegrator (it was in a book), took its laser and shot at the group, not allowing Aya to finish her thought. Luckily, everyone dodged the attack, Aya barely missing and Rayn had Wart in hand.

"Well, it doesn't seem like he wants to negotiate," Abrin stated, noticing Ako was in his hood. "Wha─? Get out of there!" he demanded.

Ako pouted. "No way! I can help!" Ako protested.

Rayn shook his head. "Then show us. Wart needs to get out of here. Make sure he stays safe," Rayn directed her. Ako gawked in disbelief.

"But─"

"I don't think that was a suggestion. If you really want to show us how strong you are, make it back alive," Aya challenged.

Ako gritted her teeth then smirked. "Alright then. When I get back…" She then pointed at Aya. "I'm coming for you!"

Aya grinned devilishly. "Great, I'll be looking forward to it," she muttered.

Ako flew before Wart, much to his surprise. "Is this a fairy?" he wondered.

Aya placed her finger in front of his mouth. "Keep it our little secret," Aya told him. Wart nodded as Ako pulled at his collar.

The remaining three turned their attention to the Disintegrator, who surprisingly didn't attack as they got Wart to safety. It almost appeared as if "forgot" that they were there. That soon changed when Abrin approached the Heartless. "Come on! Let's take this thing out!" he shouted. The Heartless didn't seem to like that, for it took its laser once more and shot at him. Abrin leapt back. "Whoa!"

"That's what you get for being so rash," Aya commented. "This is how it's done." Aya ran in front of the Heartless and grinned. "Hey! Over here!" The Heartless took its gun and shot out two lasers at once, one being fire related and the other being ice. Although they both diverged from the same laser, they seemed to take different paths as if controlled by two different people. Aya hopped and hobbled out of the lasers' way. Once she felt that she had an opening, she darted towards the Heartless and slashed it. Well, she thought she did anyway. The scratch instantly healed up and in turn, several Heartless appeared. Abrin, Aya, and Rayn all groaned at this.

"Yeah, you sure showed me," Abrin muttered smugly.

Aya scoffed. "At least I made something happen," she retorted.

"Nothing good," Abrin shot back.

Rayn sighed disdainfully. "Well, it's obvious that physical attacks aren't gonna cut it," Rayn said as he dodged another laser. "Let's try magic," Rayn suggested as he shot a blizzard at its face. Before the attack could land, the once single laser broke in half into two separate lasers. The Heartless then shot bullet like lasers, semi-automatic bullets, at the three, effectively causing them to dodge like their lives depended on it.

"What the hell?" Abrin shouted. Aya, trying her best not to get hit, took her knives and started shooting fire like a mad woman. After the Heartless and Aya finished their assault, Aya noticed something strange about the armor the Heartless was wearing. Instead of its normal purplish color, parts of it were more magenta, even red.

"Hey, parts of its armor are red now. I think magic works!" she realized.

"Finally, something useful," Abrin muttered. Aya chose to ignore that comment as she shot more fire at it. Rayn shot blizzards and Abrin shot thunder. With their continual pursuit, the armor of the Heartless appeared completely red.

"This should be it," Rayn stated. Then, much to their dismay, the armor flew off the Heartless and created a doppelganger of it. Now standing before them was an all black Heartless with one laser and a Heartless made of armor with the other.

"…Well, crap," Aya blankly mumbled.

Rayn shook his head. "No, this might be a good thing! Even though there are two of them, I think they're substantially weaker than before!"

Aya seemed skeptical. "What makes you think so?" she questioned.

Rayn examined the two Heartless and smiled. "Well, think about it, we couldn't use physical attacks because he had that armor on. The magic was limited of use because it had both of those lasers."

"So now that they're separated, they're just a couple of sitting ducks!" Abrin realized.

Rayn nodded as Aya grinned. "Then let's finish this!" she directed. Rayn and Aya focused on fighting the armor-less Heartless, mostly because they both ran out of magic, while Abrin shot multiple thunder spells at the red armor. In no time at all, both of the threats disintegrated, no pun intended, revealing a pink heart floating into the air.

Abrin sighed. "Ugh, finally. Let's seal this Keyhole and get out of here," he groaned. He pointed his Keyblade at the sword in the stone. Much to their relief, it began to glow. After Abrin locked the keyhole, the remaining Heartless disappeared and the once dark purple skies became blue.

The three of them made their way back to the forest where their pink Gummi Ship sat. It should've sat there anyway. Instead, a black and white Gummi Ship with the name "Pimp 2" on the side filled their view. Soon after, five fairies appeared from behind it, one of them being Ako. "Considering that our honor is on the line, we, the FRP…reluctantly…release control of this ship back to its original owners."

"That's very grown up of you," Rayn commended.

Aya smirked. "So, what made you change your mind?" she wondered.

Ako smiled. "Well, pink was my subordinates' idea. There's no way that I'm gonna travel in a pink ship!" she told them.

There was a long pause on Aya's corner. _'Is she serious?'_ Aya asked Rayn using what can only be called "friend telepathy".

_'I don't know. Ask her.'_

_'Why do I have to do it? Can't Abrin do it?'_ Rayn and Aya both looked at Abrin.

Abrin jolted slightly as he noticed them staring at him and chimed in with his own "telepathy" of _'Don't drag me in this! It's because you guys were having the conversation!'_

Aya sighed. _'Fine.'_

"What do you mean? You're not going," Aya stated bluntly. Abrin and Rayn sweatdropped. _'Epic fail…'_ They both thought.

Ako seemed taken aback. "What? We practically worked as a team back there! I think you're being unfair!" Ako protested.

"Unfair? You're the one who decided to travel with us on your own accord. Can't you just use pixie dust to travel or something?"

Ako flew up to Aya and pulled her purple braid. "It doesn't work like that!" she growled. After the many complaints from Aya, since getting your hair pulled isn't the best feeling in the world, Ako finally released her hair. She then swiftly turned towards Abrin. "What about you?"

Abrin tilted his head. "What about me?" He questioned.

"You think I should travel with you guys, right?" she wondered, fluttering her eyes and wings.

Abrin sweat-dropped. _'Crap, crap, crap. This fairy chick likes me. This is like the fourth grade all over again…'_ Abrin nervously chuckled at the question. "Well, I personally don't mind, but it sounds like something between you and Aya."

Ako puffed her cheeks out, almost in tears. "I-I thought we had something special, yet you still take her side! She stole you away from me!"

Abrin and Rayn sweat-dropped while Aya held back a laugh. "What! When did we─"

"It's okay, Ako. Sure you can travel with us. Anyone as heartless as him deserves punishment. Who better to dish it out than the victim herself?" Aya suggested, flashing a mischievous smile at Abrin.

Ako nodded her head. "Yeah! You're right! It's just a lovers' quarrel! Once punishment is dealt, everything will be better!" Ako proclaimed. _'Lovers' quarrel?'_Abrin thought disdainfully. Ako then flew before her four subordinates. "Alright ladies, this isn't goodbye, just a temporary farewell. Before I embark on my new journey, let me─"

"Will you come on? We don't have all day!" Aya shouted from the closing Gummi Ship.

Ako yelped. "You jerks were gonna leave me!" She turned to the four remaining fairies. "Tell the boss that I'll be traveling with them! See ya!" she shouted, barely making it through the now closed door.

**A.N- That's it! I'm already excited for the next chapter! I know exactly what to do; all I have to do is type it. I'm sure the next one won't be terribly long overdue like this one was. Thanks for reading and review! Bye Mee! ^o^**


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N- Two chapters within a week? (What?) I know! Now that chapter 10 has come and gone, things start to get interesting…or whatever. I'm not gonna hold you guys up, so here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If you don't know that I don't own anything that has to do with Kingdom Hearts and Square Enix, then I don't know what to say.**

**Claimer: I do own those one characters, what were they called, OCs!**

* * *

><p><span>CH. 11: Back to our Roots<span>

"So next time you feel the need to disagree with me, take it up with me and we can talk about it! Another thing, it's like you're acting like we belong to each other…" Abrin, Aya, and Rayn all sat with dread as Ako lectured Abrin for "testing their love" as she called it.

"She's not stopping anytime soon…" Rayn stated.

"I'll admit it, this plan backfired…" Aya muttered.

Abrin leered at her sideways. "Fix this…" he muttered snidely.

Aya sighed as she stood to her feet. "Hey, Ako, don't you think that three hours of lecturing is enough?" Aya inquired.

Ako shot a look at Aya implying "stay out of this, girlie". "I don't think he understood the message clearly enough! I'd say three more hours would whip him in shape!" she replied.

"No! I mean, that won't be necessary. I understand…" Abrin assured her, much to her delight.

"That's great! Now we can get back to being together!" Ako stated. Abrin sweat-dropped as he turned to Aya and Rayn. _'Help me,'_ he mouthed. They simply shrugged their shoulders in defeat.

"Well now that that's settled, I wonder what Kaim and Celeste plan on doing with those necklaces," Rayn wondered.

Aya sighed, obviously annoyed with the topic. "Who knows, maybe they really like jewelry," she suggested. "What I want to know is why she didn't summon more Nobodies when she had the chance."

Abrin shook his head. "It's simple. Someone else was controlling the Nobodies. She can't summon them herself, one of the Organization members works behind the scenes and put on a little smoke and mirrors act," Abrin explained.

"That's why you didn't summon anymore Nobodies," Aya realized. Abrin nodded. "I wonder what the Organization is planning; they really are a mysterious bunch. Then there's Kaim and Celeste. I still don't know what their deal is," Aya admitted. Rayn and Abrin glanced at each other briefly. Aya noticed this and sighed. "Oh man, that was the 'we have something serious to talk about' glance. What's up?"

"Have you managed to remember anything yet? It's been a few weeks since I met back up with you, but it seems like nothing's changed," Rayn asked, causing an uncomfortable atmosphere for Aya.

"Yeah, well, I only managed to really remember getting the necklaces from Kaim. Everything else is just little details that don't add up to much."

"But we met up with you after our world was destroyed. You don't remember that either?" Abrin questioned. Aya shook her head, a little tenser. "Do you even remember our world getting destroyed?" Rayn shot a glare at Abrin, even though he knew the subject was going to come up eventually.

"I can't remember anything, get off my back!" Aya said defensively.

"You can't, or won't!" Abrin interrogated. The room fell silent. For the first time in a while, Aya had nothing to say. Abrin crossed his arms. "Fine, if you don't remember, let me tell you what happened."

* * *

><p><em>A thirteen year old Abrin woke up from his three hour nap. School is a lot of work; you need at least a one hour nap from that place.<em>

_"Abrin! Take out that trash! It's starting to stink!" a woman yelled from down the hallway of the house. _

_A vein popped on his head._ _"Why don't you take it out?" he shouted back._

_"Because I'm your babysitter and I said so!" she told him, only managing to irritate him further._

_"Why do I have a babysitter at thirteen anyway? I can take care of myself!"_

_"You're lucky you get a babysitter, I heard talk that they were gonna try to put you in a foster home. I keep telling them that your grandparents are coming from vacation and filing you guardianship papers, but they're getting impatient." _

_Abrin remained silent. Both of his grandparents died on a cruise two years ago. Both his parents were killed because his dad got into trouble with gang related issues. His little sister moved with their aunt when their parents died. Their aunt wouldn't let him come too because he would "corrupt" his sister's growth._

_"Abrin?"_

_"I'm about to take the trash out," he finally told her._

_After placing the garbage into the can, Abrin decided that it was useless to go back to the red-headed sea witch and in turn decided to take a walk. 'Maybe I could go to Aya's house…' he considered. That thought instantly left his mind for two reasons: One, her parents are just as crazy as she is, and two, he never been over her house by his self. He wasn't going to risk it. Abrin continued his walk as the sun was starting to turn from the yellow sun of the day to the orange sun of the evening. The sky then began to turn a putrid purple and black color._

_"Night already? No…" Abrin questioned, knowing that something was wrong. He then realized that the same purple mess that covered the sky was accumulating on the trees and ground, practically everywhere. "Wh-What the hell is going on?" he muttered in disbelief. Then, making him even more paranoid, small black creatures began emerging from the ground. "What the hell are these things!" He glanced around and noticed that the ground began to break apart as the creatures started lunging towards him. His instincts kicked in as he reached for a fallen tree branch and began swinging at the creatures. He soon began to run once he noticed that there was too many of them to fend off. "Kaim! Rayn! Celeste! Aya!" he practically shouted without thinking. The ground below him lifted up. He tried to leap down to lower ground to no avail. Abrin was flung into the air to who knows where._

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry about your parents and grandparents…" Aya stated, refusing to make eye contact.<p>

Abrin kept a stern look as he sighed. "You don't have to apologize, you didn't do anything…" he muttered. He didn't want to be angry with her.

Rayn glanced at her with unwanted suspicion. "Are you okay? I can't help but feel as if there's something you're not telling us," he inquired.

Aya kept her eyes on the ground. "Yeah, I was just…thinking about that shoe polish. I never did get a chance to teach Gilligan how to bargain…"

"Are you kidding me!" Abrin shouted to everyone's surprise. "Stop running! Everything isn't a joke! What if you never remember, would that be okay with you!"

"Maybe it would! It's not like it's the end of the world! I'm tired of being treated like I'm the problem!" Aya retorted.

"We don't think you're the problem. We just want you to remember the good times we had."

A vein popped on Aya's head. "And you, it's like you're Mr. Perfect! You're never angry; it's like I don't even know who you are!" Aya pointed out.

"You think my life is perfect? You think I don't have problems!" Rayn snapped. "Why don't I let you know what happened to me that day, then you can determine if my life is perfect or not!"

* * *

><p><em>"How could you be so stupid! You're a disgrace to our family!" a man in his early to mid forties shouted towards thirteen year old Rayn. Rayn sat on the couch of the living room, holding back tears. "What? You gonna cry now? I knew I was raising a wuss."<em>

_"Honey…" a woman around the same age said as the man started._

_"Stay out of this, Linda! You can't understand things like this!" the man shouted towards her, causing her to sulk back into her seat._

_"D-Don't talk to my mom like that," Rayn meekly stated. _

_The man, presumably his father, approached Rayn so closely that their noses were practically touching._ _"What are you gonna do about it? All you ever do is whine and hide in the corner while those little roaches you call friends stand up for you!"_

_"They're not roaches! Stop being an ass all the time!" Rayn screeched, a tear streaming down his eye. _

_His father slammed his fist on a nearby wall._ _"Get the hell out of my house," he demanded, his voice shaking with rage. _

_Rayn glanced at his mother who in turn shook her head, signaling him to hurry and leave before his father killed him. Rayn wiped a tear as he stood to his feet._ _"Fine, I'll leave," he then glared at the man spitefully as he exited the house._

_Rayn solemnly traversed the streets. He cleverly sat next to a nearby fountain that sprayed water into the air to hide his tears from the passing by denizens. He also placed his hood on just in case._

_"Rayn?" a voice called out. Rayn shot his head up to see Celeste staring at him with concern. "What's wrong?" she questioned. _

_Rayn shrugged his shoulders as he hung his head back down._ _"I don't know anymore…" he stated. _

_Celeste walked up to him, not caring that she was getting soaked, and extended her arm out to him._ _"Come on, walk with me." Then she glanced at the sky as it began to get darker. "I don't think we should stay here too long…"_

_Rayn and Celeste walked and talked as the sky became darker and darker._ _"Wasn't just five o'clock? It looks more like ten," Rayn commented. _

_Celeste nodded at the revelation. "The sky looks dark purple too. So do the ground, the houses, that bush over there…" Celeste went on. _

_Rayn sweat-dropped as his face went pale._ _"Th-That's not normal!" he exclaimed. Then, much to Rayn and Celeste's surprise, black creatures started emerging from the purplish-black mess. "That's really not normal!" he pointed out. _

_Celeste grabbed his hand and motioned him to follow her._ _"We have to get out of here," she stressed in her usual calm voice. The two rushed away from the black creatures as they started rising from the ground. More like with the ground. _

_Rayn panicked._ _"Wh-What's going on? What's gonna happen to our home?" A thought then crossed his mind. "My home…Mom!" He attempted to maneuver past the flying chunks of ground only to be held back by Celeste. "What are you doing? Let go of me, I have to help my mom!" he insisted. _

_Celeste shook her head._ _"It's too dangerous! Hold on!" Celeste stated in a stern voice. Rayn started to debate, yet stopped himself as a single tear streamed down his face. The two were then sucked into the darkness along with their world._

* * *

><p>Rayn glared out of the window as the room fell silent.<p>

"I never knew…" Aya muttered, feeling guilty about how she just treated him.

Abrin nodded his head. "Why didn't you say anything?" Abrin questioned.

Rayn continued his silence until he finally mustered the energy to speak again. "Because…I didn't want you all to worry about me. I wanted to be strong and handle it myself…"The tension steadily increased as the room became increasingly quiet.

Aya gritted her teeth. "But…we're your friends. We would've understood if you needed to come to us," Aya told him.

Rayn glanced at her. "I would love to believe that, but how would you know? You don't remember anything," Rayn pointed out.

"That's not true…" she stated under her breath, yet loud enough for Abrin to hear.

"What do you mean 'that's not true'?" Abrin questioned.

Aya almost stared straight through Abrin's soul. "I remember…" Rayn and Abrin glanced at her with question in their eyes. "I remember what life used to be like, the people I knew, when our world was destroyed, everything…"

Rayn almost passed out while Abrin bit his tongue. "You remember? Just now and that fast?" Rayn inquired.

Aya shook her head. "No, I've remembered for a while now. I had lived in another world for about a year before starting this journey. Plenty of time to remember things about my past. The rest came from traveling with Rayn. The only thing I haven't quite figured out is who my family is. I vaguely remember my parents and I think I have a sister, but everything else is fuzzy."

Abrin stared at her with disbelief. "Why would you now bring this up? Did you even lose your memories in the first place? Did you 'forget' that day we came to get you too!" Abrin interrogated.

Aya shot a deadly look at him. "I did lose my memories! I don't even remember you guys coming to get me ever!" Aya shot at him.

"That doesn't make any sense! Why would─"

"Wait a minute, Abrin. It's common for people who suffered memory loss and got their memories back to forget what happened while they were still lost," Rayn explained. Abrin sighed and muttered a few things under his breath. Rayn turned to Aya. "Besides, that's not important now. There's something that has to be cleared up. Aya, what happened the day our world was destroyed?" he asked. Aya knew there was no avoiding this and began to tell her tale.

* * *

><p><em>"What are you doing, you stupid kid!" an older lady yelled. Below her was a splattered cake and frosting that had fallen a few seconds prior. Aya stood beside the lady with a slightly irritated expression.<em>

_"I was holding a cake, and now it's on the ground," Aya sardonically mumbled. _

_The woman glared at her._ _"What was that?" she provoked. _

_Aya swallowed her pride like she had eaten a tub of glue._ _"I'm sorry, ma'am. I wasn't looking where I was going…" Aya told her in a sick sweet voice. _

_The lady scoffed._ _"Obviously. Clean this mess up! And I'm deducting this from your pay!" she bellowed as she wobbled out of the delivery hangar. Aya sighed disdainfully as another older girl tapped her shoulder. Aya turned back to see an older teenager with pale skin and long, brown hair and matching eyes. She had a smiled that could warm anyone's heart. 'What does she want? Can't she see I'm brooding?' Aya thought._

_"Are you okay? That cake wasn't your fault. If that dog hadn't run in front of your bike, it would've been fine," she told her. _

_Aya sighed._ _"I'm fine, thanks." She sneered, "That lady better be lucky that I'm working, I'll sue her for defying child labor laws!" _

_The girl sweat-dropped._ _"That reminds me, how's your mom?" she asked._

_"She's been better. I'll be heading to my next job soon, so I should get going," Aya stated. _

_The girl smiled sadly._ _"You know Aya, if you need help all you have to do is ask. In fact, you should take a break," she reminded. _

_Aya gave a shadow of a smile._ _"You know I can't do that. We barely have enough money to make it this week. But thanks Sandra, I'll think about it," Aya said. Sandra nodded as Aya headed out. She knew that Aya wouldn't think about it. She never did._

_Aya pedaled vigorously towards her next job._ _"Damn it, at this rate, I'll be late!" Aya complained. She glanced ahead to see the bridge she usually crosses under construction. A vein popped on Aya's head. "Who keeps doing construction for eight hours straight!" Aya shouted, remembering that they started when she went to her first job. Knowing that the construction men wouldn't allow her to pass, Aya decided to take a…detour._

_"Out of my way!" Aya shouted as she rode her bike up a nearby ramp and flew over the construction._

_"What are ya' doin', kid?" Many workers shouted as she soared over their heads. Much to Aya's dismay, she knew there was no way she could stick the landing. Her front wheel drifted underneath her, smashing into her ankle, proving her fears. 'Damn…this is gonna hurt!' Aya thought. She closed her eyes as she braced herself for a hard impact with the ground. Of course this never came for when Aya opened her eyes, she was in the arms of a stranger that was wearing black pants and a dark blue t-shirt. He had a black jacket hanging over his shoulder. He gave her a smile._

_"Wow. I came to visit this town for one day and I already see angels falling out of the sky," he flirted. _

_Aya gazed blankly at him._ _"Chicken Little once thought the sky was falling. It turned out that it was just aliens," she stated. The boy sweat-dropped as he put her down. A throbbing pain rushed to her ankle as she steadied herself. The boy, who seemed about fifteen, noticed this yet chose to ignore it for the time being._

_"No word of thanks? I did just save your life," he said. _

_Aya shrugged as she began to slightly limp away._ _"I might thank you after work. I'm gonna be late," Aya told him. _

_The boy walked in front of her._ _"Work? Are you old enough to work?" he questioned. _

_Aya smiled slightly at the boy._ _"Just turned fourteen today," she stated proudly. The boy seemed surprised by the fact._

_"Working on your birthday? Isn't that a bit much?" he inquired. _

_Aya shook her head. This guy was starting to irritate her._ _"Can't afford to stop working." Then she faced the direction of her job. "Maybe if I run, I can make it on time…" she thought aloud. _

_The boy grabbed her arm before she had a chance to take off._ _"You can't run with that ankle," he halfway lectured, that's what Aya heard anyway._

_"Aha, you did notice… Well, unless you've figured out the mechanics to make a human fly, how else am I supposed to get to work?" Aya questioned, remembering that if her bike wasn't totaled by the fall, it fell off the bridge. _

_The boy grinned at her._ _"I'll carry you," he told her more than suggested._

* * *

><p>"Wait, he carried you?" Abrin asked, slightly irritated that this random stranger was flirting with his friend.<p>

A vein popped on Aya's head. "I'm not finished yet!" Aya exclaimed. Abrin crossed his arms and muttered something about the boy being a poser.

* * *

><p><em>Aya shook her head. "Oh yeah, just let a random stranger carry me to who knows where. That's not suspicious at all," Aya retorted to his question. <em>

_The boy continued to annoy Aya with his million dollar smile._ _"I'm sorry, I can't take no for an answer," he lifted Aya up and carried her bridal style._

* * *

><p>"He kidnapped you!" Abrin questioned, further irritated.<p>

Aya threw a book at Abrin's head. "Let me finish the damn flashback!" Aya demanded. Abrin rubbed the back of his head as he mumbled something about a damn kidnapper.

* * *

><p><em>After much debate from Aya, the two eventually began having civil conversations as she thought he was walking to her work. He smiled.<em> _"Isn't this romantic? The prince saves the princess and carries her off into the sunset." _

_Aya glanced at the boy with a look that screamed "really?" "You should stop. You sound like a desperate love sick puppy," Aya told him. The boy chuckled as he sweat-dropped. "By the way, what's your name?" she wondered. _

_He slightly frowned at this, his eyes trailing over to a strange and very large tree in the distance._ _"My name…? It's been a while since someone asked me that," he stated. "They call me Rin," he introduced. _

_Aya nodded._ _"Rin…my name is Aya, but everyone calls me The Great Hokage," she told him. The boy sweat-dropped. 'Wrong series…' he thought._

_"I'm aware…" he muttered. _

_Luckily, Aya didn't catch that and they continued._ _After about ten minutes of talking, Aya realized that Rin had missed her turn._ _"Aw crap, turn back around, my turn was two miles back!" Aya directed him. _

_Rin, however, continued traversing the sidewalk and shook his head._ _"We can deal with that later. There's something I want you to see..." Rin told her ominously. _

_Aya did an internal face palm. 'Damn it. I knew he was a creeper.' Aya thought as she attempted to devise a way to escape if necessary. Much to Aya's surprise, the two approached a giant tree that stood tall and strong._ _"Wait, we aren't allowed to come near this tree. The elders said something about darkness or something," Aya warned him. Rin remained silent. He stopped once he and Aya were face to face with the tree. "Rin?" Aya wondered as a crooked grin covered his face. _

_He sat Aya down._ _"Aya…do you know why I came out here?" Rin asked her. _

_Aya stared at him in confusion._ _"Because you like nature?" she guessed even though she knew something bad was about to happen. She felt a weird energy overcome her as the sky started to be engulfed in dark purple and the ground formed the same colored gunk. _

_Rin simply laughed._ _"Not quite. Those elders of yours have probable reasons to be wary of this tree. This tree has the ability to seal away the darkness in this world. I just simply unlocked it," he explained. Aya was astonished as the darkness was covering most of the ground now, causing Aya to stand up and wince in pain. Rin glanced at her with devilish eyes. "This world will be devoured by darkness and cease to exist. I can save you if you wish," he offered. _

_Aya glared at him._ _"Why me? Did you decide that the first person you catch would come with you or something?" Aya interrogated. _

_Rin looked at her._ _"Actually, yes." Aya face palmed. 'I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that,' she thought."But I actually kinda like you," he answered more seriously. _

_This surprised Aya. It's been a while since someone said they liked her, not since fourth grade anyway. Aya's decision was rushed as black creatures began emerging from the ground and chunks of land began floating to the sky. Seeing this, Aya shook her head._ _"Nah, I think I'll stick with this sad place until the end. Thanks for the offer though. Tell me what it's like on the dark side sometime," Aya denied. _

_Rin frowned, not expecting a denial, as darkness consumed him._ _"Very well. Don't expect me to accept you when your heart is full of darkness and lonely," he stated as he disappeared. Aya was left standing alone on her now sprained ankle. She instinctively sat down in front of the tree as she was thrown out of her home._

* * *

><p>Rayn couldn't help but smile at this. "I knew you didn't do it," he stated. Abrin still had his arms crossed, still upset about Rin.<p>

"Of course I didn't. That would've required work, and that would've gone against my morals," Aya told them.

Abrin uncrossed his arms as he calmed down. "I guess you were right, Rayn. Sorry I didn't believe you, Aya," he said and then hung his head. "But were you serious? You know…when you said that maybe you didn't want to remember?" Abrin asked her.

Aya sighed with understanding. "You know I didn't. You guys are my best friends, believe it or not. I never want to forget."

Abrin smiled at this while Rayn seemed to ponder something. "If it was this Rin guy who unlocked our world, where is he now? And a bigger question, what is he doing?" he mused.

Everyone sat and pondered this until Aya finally groaned. "When did this story become a romantic mystery? It's kinda gross," she commented. Abrin and Rayn silently agreed with this.

"Well I'm glad everyone got everything out!" Ako stated.

Aya leered at her. "You're still here? Didn't you leave or something?"

Ako pulled Aya's braid, naturally causing pain. "I didn't leave at all! You guys just interrupted my conversation with Abby!" Aya and Rayn glanced at each other, at Abrin, and then back at each other.

"Please don't tell me…" Abrin muttered. Aya burst out laughing while Rayn himself tried to conceal his laugh to no avail. Abrin glared at the two as Ako hugged his face. Meanwhile, the screen on the ship read, "TENSHI CITY, LAND HERE?" Abrin inadvertently placed his elbow on the conveniently placed "yes" button and sent them to a world they'd be better off forgetting.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N- And that's it for this chapter! I have to say, I think I actually kinda like this story a lot better now. If there are any improvements I need to make, please feel free to tell me as long as it's <em>CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM<em>. Well, with that out of the way, thanks for reading and review! Bye Mee! ^o^**


	12. Chapter 12

CH. 12: Tenshi City-TheCity of Angels?

Abrin, Aya, and Rayn walked down a barren path that led up to a nearby town. Relatively nearby, anyway, for it seemed as if they had been walking for hours but there weren't any other towns that they could see either. "This is taking forever…" complained Abrin.

Aya sighed in agreement. "It's like trying to follow the yellow brick road. It just goes on and on…" she said as she trailed off. Abrin and Rayn stared at her as neither one of them had quite understood her simile. Her eyebrows shot up as she gave them an incredulous look. "What?" she said defensively. "Am I the only one who thought they took way too long to find that wizard?"

Finally realizing that ignoring Aya would be the best course of action (and not actually having a reply for the question), Rayn shook his head. "It does seem like it's taking longer than it should to get there," Rayn admitted, cuing everyone in the immediate area to groan with frustration.

"How did we even get to this point?" Aya questioned almost completely off handedly.

"How could you forget?" Rayn answered sarcastically.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One hour prior<strong>_

"PREPARING TO ENTER ATMOSPHERE," the AI system in Pimp 2 kindly informed.

Surprised, Rayn hopped into the pilot's seat, courteously moving Aya from the seat. "Wait, what? Where are we going?" Rayn asked with good reason. According to him, the Gummi Ship should have told him the location at least. His fingers moved quickly along the keys, as his face scrunched in concentration.

After a short while, the screen popped up. "ERROR. UNABLE TO COMFIRM LOCATION."

Abrin sighed. "Well, that's just dandy," he muttered, elbow still sitting square on the "yes" button.

Aya noticed this and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It'd be even dandier if you moved your elbow from the problem," directed Aya.

Abrin seemed confused until he seen the "yes" button inconveniently placed under his arm. "Ah, I see…" Abrin sweatdropped as he carefully removed his elbow. Rectifying that small issue, Aya sighed and shook her head.

"Well, the only thing we can do now is land and hope that it's not a war zone or something," Rayn hoped.

Ignoring all of the commotion, Ako gazed out the window with wonder. "Stars look so cool inside a spaceship," she gawked.

"Well, it's a Gummi Ship, but I guess they're like the same thing. Haven't you ever seen the stars like this? You travel worlds too, right?" Aya wondered.

Ako shook her head. "Not really. When we fairies travel, we use rips in space—or portal-like vortexes—to travel where we need to go. We don't really even know where we're going. It's sorta at random unless we've been there before," explained Ako as she reminisced about her friends.

Aya glanced at her before looking away. "You don't get out much, do you?" she questioned, granting her a painful tug to the hair by Ako.

Rayn sighed as Ako and Aya argued with each other. His main focus was to land Pimp 2; he didn't have time to mediate between them. _'This isn't going to end well…'_ he thought resigned for the moment. Rayn parked the Gummi Ship in a secluded area that he was sure (or at least hoped) no one would see. After exiting Pimp 2, the four (including Ako) was met with a desolate landscape. The sun was seemingly burning holes in everything it made contact with. The only visible patch of living anything was the group of trees and brush that was only large enough to hide Pimp 2. Aya sweatdropped.

"Um, should we have landed here? It looks like sacred grounds or something," Aya pointed out.

Abrin, however, had a look on his face that could only be expressed as dread. "Who cares? It's so hot!" he complained, making sure to put extra emphasis on the word "hot".

"Maybe if you took off that heavy black coat, you'd feel better," Aya told him, showing him that he was still wearing the coat the Organization provided for him.

Abrin noticed this in shock. "Oh yeah!" he realized as he pulled off the coat to reveal a black short sleeve shirt and long black pants accompanied with black boots. Basically more heat attracting apparel. "Damn it!"

"You can't talk about clothes, Aya. Have you seen what you're wearing?" Rayn asked the sarcastic teen.

Aya looked down to see that she was still wearing the outfit she created to get into the army in the Land of Dragons. In response to this, she crossed her arms. "That's not fair. I tailored this to fit my needs at the time," she defended. It was then that she actually took a good look at Rayn. He was wearing some denim jeans and a white t-shirt that had some logo that Aya didn't recognize on it. He had a red jacket that was draped over his shoulder due to the heat. "Now that I think about it, you're the only one that's normally dressed with the exception of Abrin's deathly black heat trap," stated Aya.

Rayn smiled. "I guess we'll have to go shopping for more appropriate clothes when we get to a town."

"Hey! What about my clothes?" Ako pestered.

Aya ignored this and pointed ahead. "I think I see a city in the distance. It looks to be about an hour or so away if we travel by foot," Aya told them.

Ako, however, was persistent. "Don't you want to know what's special about my clothes?" Ako continued.

Abrin hung his head down with dread. "Great, walking in one hundred plus heat for an hour, the highlight of my day," he muttered, inadvertently ignoring Ako.

"Well the quicker we get started, the sooner we'll get there. Just imagine a store with air conditioning," Rayn suggested optimistically.

"Why aren't you guys listening to me!"Ako questioned aggressively.

"Then I see no point in standing here. Let's go!" Aya said with a grin as she led them out. The four started on their way, while Ako growled to herself.

Just as they left, a rustling was heard in the brush nearby. The cause of the noise was an elderly man with a sneaky grin on his face. "Finally, a chance to relax in these here sacred grounds," he mused. Upon walking out, he saw Pimp 2 sitting in his favourite relaxing spot. "What the-? Who put this hunk of metal in my relaxin' spot?" The man proceeded to try and move it by force.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Present<strong>_

"'It'll take an hour', she says," Abrin muttered under his breath, receiving a slap across the head from Aya.

"Stop complaining like this is my fault. It's too hot to nag. Only the universe could hate us this much," Aya decided.

Looking around out of lost hope and boredom, Abrin noticed a girl in the slight distance lying on the ground. "Hey guys, there's a person up ahead," he pointed, almost wanting to lay down himself.

Rayn glanced up from his blond hair that covered his face to see the same person. "He's right, there is someone up there. Let's see if we can help her," Rayn told them. Aya and Abrin nodded as Ako really didn't have a say.

They approached the girl to see that she had bad sunburn and her red hair was all frizzy. Aya shook her head. "Another one bites the dust," she commented. The girl's nose then started twitching, as if she smelled something.

"Wait, she's still alive!" Rayn told her.

The girl continued sniffing. "Magic," she said suddenly as she opened her eyes and shot up, nearly causing a heart attack to the people around her. She immediately turned to Aya and the group. "You guys can use magic, can't you?" she questioned.

Aya arched an eyebrow. How did she know that? Aya then decided to test something. Time to mess with her. "Sure, why not?" she responded.

It was now the girl's turn to be skeptical. "Can you really?" she questioned.

This, of course, caused Aya to sweatdrop. _'But you practically told me…'_ Aya thought. "Yeah, let me prove it," Aya searched through the bag that Rayn had on his back. She pulled out a deck of cards and shuffled them. "Pick a card, any card, preferably near the front."

The girl gawked at Aya like she was crazy yet in the end picked a card. Upon further instruction, she placed the card back as Aya reshuffled it. "How is this proving anything?" she wondered.

Aya raised her hand. "Don't question me," Aya retorted, a little offended by the girl's little faith. When she was younger, Aya used to entertain her younger sister with magic tricks, no matter how bad it was, her sister still clapped. She then pulled a card out. "Was this your-" The deck of cards then lit on fire. "Oh, it appears to be burning, never mind."

The girl watched in excitement. "Aha! So you can use magic! This nose never lies!" She grinned. "I bet you guys can use magic too, I can smell it!" Abrin and Rayn nodded, unsure on whether or not they wanted to talk this crazy girl. She nodded at what seemed to be her mental logic. "Then this should be much easier!"

"What should be easier?" Abrin wondered. The girl placed her hands on her hips.

"We're gonna break the barrier!" she proclaimed.

Rayn mentally face palmed. _'This girl reminds me of fourth grade…'_ he thought disdainfully. Before anyone could question the girl, multiple Heartless appeared, causing the girl to step back. "Wh-What are these things, can I attack them?" she wondered.

Aya sweatdropped. _'That's the first thing you ask?'_

Rayn, however, nodded to the girl. "These things are bad news. Take them out if you can!" he told her, readying his staff. Aya and Abrin followed suit, taking out their weapons.

The girl grinned mischievously. "Fine then!" She took out a book and pointed her finger at a Heartless. "Poko ri poko ru, fun for me, not for you!" Just as she chanted this, a small fireball burst from her finger to the Heartless, slightly singing it.

"What the hell?" Aya wondered.

"As long as you know the mechanics and create a chant, magic is easy," the girl explained. Aya sweatdropped. _'Just where the hell are we?'_ She thought.

"Well, whatever you're doing, keep it up. We've got a lot of ground to cover…" Rayn stated, noting that it was taking more to finish off the Heartless. There was also quite a few of them, causing Aya to grit her teeth.

"Shit, we can't fight them, but we can't get past them either. It's like fans at a pop star's concert," she muttered.

A Heartless that had a flower shaped blade managed to catch the side of Abrin's shirt, much to his disdain. "Well I guess I was getting new clothes anyway…" he snarled, sending the Heartless flying with a chock full of hateful thunder.

"Is there any way to get through this magical barrier without bringing our fans along?" Aya questioned.

The girl sighed. "There's not really a good chance. If only we could get them in one place and take them out…" the girl mused.

"There is one way," Rayn spoke up.

Aya gave a sideways glance. "Care to share with the class?" she catechized, suffering a few blows from the surrounding Heartless.

Rayn nodded. "There's a magnet spell that gathers enemies in a single area. The thing is…I'm not very good at it. In fact, I rarely even use it," he admitted.

"Well, I think now's a good time to try it!" Abrin pressed.

Rayn took a breath before calling out, "Magnet!" A swirling orb of seemingly magic energy drew in a few Heartless and had them encircling around Rayn's staff.

Aya smiled. "Sweet, it's working!" Then she took a gander at the area seeing about a dozen more. "But not by a lot…"

"Maybe if more people were using the technique, it would have more of an effect!" the girl proposed.

Aya thought about this and grinned. "Alright, I'll give it a try!" Aya volunteered. Abrin and the girl had Rayn and Aya's back as Aya concentrated. "Magnet!" she finally yelled. The orb of magic only became slightly bigger as about one or two more Heartless were drew in.

But then, much to everyone's surprise, Abrin began lifting off the ground towards the orb. "What the hell? Put me down!" he demanded. Aya immediately stopped the spell, causing Abrin and the few Heartless to fall, successfully taking out the latter. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Maybe…I should help instead," the girl suggested. Aya nodded despite her broken pride. With more of the Heartless swirling around, thanks to the girl, Abrin and Aya attacked and shot blasts of magic at them, effectively finishing off the remaining Heartless. Without any delay, all four of them fell to the ground, exhausted.

"Damn Heartless…coming out of nowhere in the burning heat," Abrin complained, too tired to shout.

Rayn managed to force out a chuckle. "Well besides that, you're pretty good with magic," Rayn complimented, referring to the girl.

In response, the girl crossed her arms with pride. "I've been studying magic since I was little. It always fascinated me, but no one else seemed to understand my enthusiasm. Many kids didn't play with me because their parents thought that I was a witch. Eventually everyone did." Realizing that she had gotten into her personal life, she began to laugh. "But it's okay! I'm gonna make the world better with my magic one city at a time!" Abrin, Aya, and Rayn smiled at this.

Seeing her chance, Ako enthusiastically started to say, "Well now that we're all quiet, I'm gonna tell you about my clo-"

"Well let's go break this barrier!" the girl pronounced, interrupting the defeated Ako.

"Yeah, about that…just how are we supposed to do that?" Aya questioned.

The girl took out her book of magical wonders as Aya called it. "Well, first we have to get four elements into one: water, earth, fire, and air."

"I call fire," Aya stated. The others face palmed at her quick reaction. "What? That's the only magic I'm halfway decent at…" she muttered.

"I'll take water then. It's melted ice, right?" Rayn added. Abrin nodded his head.

"And since I don't know any earth magic, I'll take air," Abrin said.

The girl smiled. "Then I'll take earth," she confirmed. "Now the next part is simple; all we have to do is focus all our magical energy in one area and it'll open up a small portal like thing that will lead us into the city."

"We have to do this fast; I'm almost spent on magic," Rayn brought up, just using magnet for about thirty minutes.

"We'll start now. Poko ri poko ru, fun for me, not for you!" The girl chanted as chunks of the earth rose from the ground. Aya sweatdropped. _'I'll never get used to that…'_ Each person used their respective magic.

"Aero!"

"Fire!"

"Blizzard!" Rayn shouted, having the heat from Aya's fire melt it into water. The four kept this up until a crack then a break was heard. They stopped to see broken pieces of what appeared to be space that led to a completely different area.

"Wow, it actually worked," Aya muttered in shock.

The girl however, was leaping with joy. "It worked! It worked! It's all thanks to you guys!" she nearly squealed. Without notice, she ran inside the area. Abrin, Aya, and Rayn all exchanged a look before also entering the area. When the three walked out, they were shocked at how different the landscape was. Instead of the barren wasteland they had just been traveling, this area was full of green grass and tall buildings. There were visibly hundreds of people walking inside the small city.

"Wow, this place is…lively," Abrin pointed out.

Rayn nodded. "We're sure to find a few stores around here." The two looked at Aya who remained silent. She was staring with shock at the sign. When Abrin and Rayn finally looked, their jaws dropped.

"T-Tenshi City, City of Angels!"

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><p><strong>A.N- And that's it! I'm going to start putting the author notes at the bottom of the chapters from here on out. Since I haven't updated in a while, you all get three chapters in one day! Thanks for reading and please review! Bye Mee! ^o^<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

CH.13: A Not So Bittersweet Reunion

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><p>Rayn gawked as he finished reading the sign. "This…is our hometown." Rayn muttered.<p>

Abrin shook his head. "That can't be right, it looks completely different!" Abrin stated.

"It has been a year. A lot could've happened," Rayn admitted, but Abrin refused to believe it.

"But this is too much! There's no way this is the same place!" Abrin protested. He then turned to Aya. "Don't you think so?" he questioned. Aya however, gazed at the city with a blank expression. "Are you okay?"

Aya sighed. "Everyone thinks I'm the reason this world fell into darkness," Aya stated plainly.

Rayn looked at her with compassion and even more so surprise. "Aya, are you worried?" Rayn asked her.

Aya crossed her arms in defiance. "No way. They can antagonize me all they want, it won't make a difference. I'll just do what I normally do and make my life just one smart ass comment," she told them. Abrin and Rayn glanced at each other.

"What are you guys waiting for! Come on!" the girl they had met outside shouted before the two could say anything else.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about you," Aya admitted towards the girl. "And that's another thing; we've been calling you 'the girl' for a while now. Who are you?"

The girl seemed taken aback. "I-I don't know who you guys are either!" she retorted defensively. _'You never asked. And why is she getting defensive, I just asked her name,'_ Aya thought. The girl finally smiled. "My name is Deija, but everyone just calls me The Supreme Ruler Over All Magic." Abrin and Rayn face palmed. _'What kind of title is that?'_ The blond and bluenette thought simultaneously.

However, Aya extended her hand. "I'm Aya, but everyone calls me The Ultra Megalord of Space." Abrin and Rayn sweat dropped. _'You're even worse!'_

Abrin crossed his arms. "Name's Abrin," he told her.

"I'm Rayn, nice to formally meet you," he greeted, deciding to be the sane one of the group for the moment.

Deija grinned. "Great, let's go!" she commanded. Little did she know, none of the three were following her. Once she realized this, she hastily turned around. "What's the hold up?"

"What do we still need to do? Wasn't opening up that barrier enough for you?" Aya questioned.

Deija seemed somewhat shocked by the inquiry. "There's plenty more to do! First is to find out why there was a barrier around this city. Then I have to unveil the mystery behind that giant tree in the center of the suburb I've heard so much about. I think it may be connected to some evil mastermind. I heard that it was the reason that this world was plunged into darkness and that a girl unleashed its power!" she told them. Abrin and Rayn slightly glanced at Aya, waiting for her reaction.

Aya however, simply shrugged. "Sounds interesting. I'm in," Aya stated.

Abrin grabbed her arm and pulled her slightly closer to him. "But Aya, is this a good idea?" he asked in a terse whisper.

"It's fine. We'll just go on this wild goose chase and leave. If we do find out something about that tree, it'll just be a bonus," she stated just above a whisper.

Abrin wanted to say something, but was once again interrupted by Deija. "Well it's settled then! Let's go for real this time!" she proclaimed, this time with Aya and company in tow.

Deija spoke the entire time about her plans to overthrow the government in a non-violent way and how she's been trying different types of magic since she was young. Aya however, wasn't listening. The only thing she could see was the hundreds of people in the street watching her; the hundreds judging her. _'Damn it, I shouldn't be worried. It's not like I was the one who actually plunged this damned place into darkness…' _Aya then hung her head. _'…But it deserved it.'_

"Let's start by visiting the mayor of this place!" Deija suggested in her blissful ignorance to the situation. Apparently, Aya wasn't the only one who noticed the mumbles from the crowd and the peering eyes. Rayn elbowed Abrin in the side then scanned the crowd. Abrin caught the non-verbal cue and put his arm around Aya's shoulder.

"This is a pretty big city. It'll take a while to find the mayor. Why don't we start by getting some clothes? The last thing we want to do is stand out," Abrin stated.

Aya stifled a chuckle. "It's a bit too late for that. I mean, what's up with that loud blue hair?" she jeered.

Abrin touched his hair before ruffling Aya's. "What about you? You look like a grape popsicle!" Abrin retaliated.

Aya sweatdropped as did Rayn. "So Deija, do you mind if we make a quick pit stop?" Rayn wondered.

Deija glanced back at the three and flashed a smile at a nearby store. "Sure thing. We have plenty of time to uncover this mystery!" she agreed, leading them into a store she was previously eyeing.

Entering the store proved to be more awe inspiring than the teens originally thought. The place was huge! Hundreds of shelves were filled with folded jeans and solid colored shirts and tank tops. There were racks with multi-colored shirts with dozens of prints. Diverse people scattered the aisles; many of which being teenage girls with their boyfriends and friends talking about the latest fashions. To say the least, Aya and the group stuck out like a sore thumb.

Aya sweatdropped as she heard some of the girls whispering about them. _'Well, at least they're talking about what I'm wearing,'_ she thought disdainfully. Thanks to the help of some very eager store clerks; Abrin, Aya, and Rayn all got new clothes. Aya was sporting black cargoes that came just below her knees. She had a white shirt that hung off of her shoulders with a teal tank top underneath. She wore tall boots that came up to her calves. She had teal finger cut gloves that came up to her elbows. The clerks even tied her hair into a tall ponytail that fell just pass her shoulders.

"Well, how does she look?" one of the clerks asked.

Rayn and Deija smiled as Abrin looked away. "It looks good on you!" Rayn admitted.

Deija nodded in agreement. "You look like you're about to kick ass and take names!" Deija exclaimed. Aya debated whether or not to take it as a compliment.

Abrin crossed his arms, not bringing himself to look at her. "I-I guess you look okay. I personally don't think it's your style," he told her, disregarding the fact that he was staring at a wall.

"Well that's too damn bad," Aya retorted. "I'm not changing again. These people made me change ten times." Aya then noticed that Abrin and Rayn had also changed. Abrin exchanged his dark apparel for a more suitable one. He wore a quarter sleeved white shirt with a navy blue vest that was that was unbuttoned. He decided to keep the black pants, yet exchanged them for a new pair. He also wore finger cut gloves that were white. Rayn had a sky blue t-shirt with yellow seams. He had a white jacket and dark blue jeans. He wore a headband that kept his hair from making immediate contact with his face.

Aya grinned. "You guys sure are looking sharp, aren't you?"

Rayn laughed sheepishly while Abrin grinned smugly despite his slightly red face. "Thanks," Rayn told her.

"Aren't I always?" Abrin questioned. Aya sweatdropped. _'Always an idiot,' _she thought.

The four walked out to see everyone that was previously minding their own business now staring intently at them. Some was staring in disgust while others in pain. An uneasy feeling quickly washed over Aya as the crowd began to shout towards them with curses and such.

"What's going on?" Deija asked, nearly shouting over the crowd.

Rayn shook his head. "It could be a few things…" he muttered. Despite the group's multiple attempts to escape the crowd, more came and blocked their way, leading to frustration.

"Will these people move?" Aya questioned.

"We can't get past them, it's almost like they're possessed," Abrin stated.

"My, isn't this a predicament?" a voice called out that seemed to nullify the crowd's noise. Aya looked up to see a familiar teenager with dark pants and a dark blue t-shirt. He was smirking past his forest green hair. Aya's eyes widened before squinting back into a glare.

"Who the hell are you?" Abrin antagonized.

The teen simply glanced at Aya. "Why don't you ask Aya?" he suggested.

Abrin looked at Aya, but she continued to burn holes in the teen's skull. She then gave a twisted grin. "Fancy meeting you here, Rin. Being a creepy stalker as usual?"

Abrin and Rayn gaped with shock. "Th-This is Rin? The bastard that got you framed?" Abrin sneered.

Rin smirked. "You told them about me? I'm flattered."

"What do you want? Came to cause more turmoil?" Rayn growled.

Rin simply chuckled. "Can it, lemon head. If anyone, it's you all who caused the turmoil," Rin retorted. The statement obviously didn't deter Rayn, considering that he retained his hard glare.

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Abrin cut in, even though he had a good idea. Aya could feel the tension in the air. Even though they just met Rin, she could tell that Rayn and Abrin couldn't stand the guy. Personally, she couldn't either.

Rin however, smiled. "I think you know exactly what I mean. You two fiends threw this poor world into a dark existence," he answered pointing at Abrin and Rayn, "Along with those other two."

Now Aya was confused, didn't everyone think she was the one responsible for that? "Wait a minute; doesn't everyone think I did that? Why are you pointing at those two?" Aya asked with a weaker voice than usual.

"Everyone thought you did it, so Kaim took the blame instead, followed by the rest of us," Rayn explained, not wanting to indulge Rin by allowing him to explain.

Rin grinned with the same crooked smile that caused Aya to mentally punch him for weeks. "You all put this poor young lady through the trouble of not knowing what you've done, and not being able to return home," he reprimanded, stunning the four teens; Abrin, Aya, and Rayn more so than Deija.

"What are you talking about? You're the one that put us all through this!" Abrin retaliated.

"You can point the finger at me all you want, but in the end it was you all who confessed your guilt. I'm sure that this crowd and maybe even the whole city agree with me. Isn't that right?" The roar of the crowd seemed to coagulate with his claim. Almost like a group of mind controlled zombies, the crowd began to attack Aya and the others.

"Thu-!" Abrin started, beginning to use a thunder spell.

"Wait! These are regular people, we can't just attack them!" Rayn told him. Abrin halted his spell, knowing the consequences. The people, however, didn't cease. They continued to somewhat attack them.

"Something isn't right about them; they're acting like those zombies from the video games!" Aya commented. She then felt one, then a few, then multiple hands grabbing at her arms. _'What the hell?'_ she thought, more panicked than anything. "Let go of me!" she shouted, voicing her panic.

Abrin snapped his head back to Aya along with Rayn and Deija. "Aya!" Abrin cried, summoning his Keyblade and swinging at the citizens. "I don't give a damn about these people, let go of her!" Abrin swept a group of people away, only to find that Aya was nowhere to be found. This left Abrin, Deija, and Rayn to fend for themselves.

"Um, I'm not sure what's going on, but that Rin guy isn't here anymore. Neither is Aya. Both of their magical readings are off of my radar," Deija told them, referring to her nose. Upon further examination, Rayn and Abrin realized that she was right. Rin was gone.

"Shit," Abrin said as he gritted his teeth. He glanced at Rayn, who was obviously thinking the same thing. "Rayn…"

Rayn, in response, shook his head. "We gotta focus on getting out of here, but with all these people, we'd have to be invisible to get by," he analyzed, although his slightly worried voice managed to slip through.

"How are we supposed to get by then?" Deija wondered. Just then, a familiar fairy (that everyone seemingly forgot about) flew before them.

"I think you guys are forgetting about me!" Ako announced. In her hand was a small purple orb that almost reminded Rayn of candy, even more so when she ate it. Before any questions could be asked, Ako's outfit turned into a lavender color.

"What are you doing?" Abrin questioned.

Ako smirked. "Saving your butts! Vanish!" A cool sensation flushed over them. At first, no apparent change had been made. Soon, however, it was obvious that the crowd's confused looks were due to the fact that Rayn and the others had seemingly disappeared.

"I see; guys, we're invisible! Let's get out of here quick!" Rayn directed, hoping that they could hear him since he couldn't see them either. Once the spell wore off, it appeared that everyone was thinking the same thing for they had all showed up at a nearby tree. They all stayed quiet until the crowd dispersed, allowing them to sit and sigh disdainfully. Abrin looked at Rayn who in turn looked back at him. The same thing was on both of their minds; where is Aya?

* * *

><p>Aya was tossed into a room like a ragdoll, hitting her face on the surprisingly carpeted floors. The zombie grunts as she called them soon left the room, closing the door behind them. Aya stood to her feet, still trying to register what was going on. "Kaim, and everyone else…they took the blame so I wouldn't get punished? That's crazy. Then there's Rin opening the door in the first place. I don't think he's working for the Organization, considering that they're Nobodies. But then, who is he working for if anyone?" Aya muttered to herself, trying to sort out her thoughts. She gritted her teeth. "Rin…"<p>

As if on cue, Rin stepped through the door, showing off his famous smile that never fails to irk Aya's nerves. He sat down in a seat that was placed in the middle of the room accompanied by a table and another seat across from it. He motioned for her to have a seat, to which she reluctantly agreed. "So, how are things going?" he asked casually.

"When you say 'things', are you referring to how you had zombies kidnap me or my taxes?" Aya retorted sardonically.

Rin chuckled. "They're not really zombies, they're the same city folk that you came to know and love…" When Aya didn't respond, Rin continued his thought. "But you don't love them, right?"

"What I think of these people isn't your problem or your business. Why did you kidnap me?" Aya questioned, abruptly shifting the conversation. Rin reclined back on his chair and sighed.

"I've been waiting in Tenshi City for a while waiting for your return so I could see you again, is that so bad?"

Aya lifted an eyebrow. "You waited that long for me to come back? Talk about a love sick puppy…" Aya muttered. She then shook her head. "Cut the crap, Rin. Just what are you planning?"

Rin rested his head on his hand and gazed devilishly at her. "Now why would I tell you that?" he inquired.

"Because if you don't, then I'll knock your teeth in," Aya threatened matter-of-factly.

Obviously, that was the funniest statement in the world, for Rin began to laugh loudly. "Is that so? And what makes you think an open threat like that is going to make me talk?" he questioned smugly. He was then met with a knife to his neck. Aya glared as she and Rin had a stare off. Finally, Rin simply pushed her knife aside, surprising Aya in the fact that she had just let her enemy swat her weapon away like a fly.

"What the-?" Aya managed to mutter in shock.

"You couldn't kill me even if you wanted to. You're way too nice and you were shaking. Both signs of weakness. I surely hope that the other three aren't like you." Rin explained as he stood to his feet. Aya followed suit, not wanting to gain any more of a disadvantage than she already had.

"Wait, what do you mean by that? What other three?" Aya wondered more in curiosity than in spite. Yawning while waving goodbye, Rin opened the door. In a last attempt to stop him, Aya tried to grab his shoulder, resulting in almost the complete opposite with Rin gripping Aya's wrist. A twisted smirk covered Rin's face.

"You may be the inferno, but let it be known that I won't hesitate to douse that small flame of yours anytime," he stated as he released Aya's twitching hand. With that, Rin walked out of the room and Aya let him. What could she do? She was practically shaking after he left.

"Three others…" Aya muttered in confusion, "He's most likely not talking about Rayn and the others, but then who is he talking about?" Aya decided to exit the room also, not liking the thought of being in enemy territory. "And what's up with that nickname? The Inferno…sounds like a revolutionary activist group." Aya sat down in the middle of the hallway, not seeing anyone nearby. "How did I get myself in this mess?"

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><p><strong>A.N- That's it! Sorry, but I think I'll only update two chapters this time. The third one is a result of me being last part of Tenshi City should be in the next chapter. If you guys have any suggestions, please leave them in the reviews or PM me. Thanks for reading and please review! Bye Mee!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

CH. 14: The Shallow Cry of an Angel

The ruckus in Tenshi city had seemed to have died down, for everyone appeared to be back to their daily routines. Everyone that is, excluding Abrin, Rayn, and Deija, who were still sneaking around. "It looks like everyone's back to normal. We should be able to walk around now, right?" Deija wondered; she was tired of hiding behind every single tree they came across.

However, Rayn disdainfully shook his head. "We can't take the chance. We may trigger something if they see us. You know Deija; you don't have to follow us around. We don't really know where to go and it seems like you have plans of your own," Rayn brought up, remembering Deija's resolve to change the world.

Deija quickly flashed a smile as she shook her head. "Nah. I was thinking about it, but then I remembered something my teacher taught me, 'Never abandon the help, they'll rise up and fight the power some day!' is what she told me."

Rayn and Abrin sweat-dropped. _'The help? What kind of teacher is that?'_ Abrin questioned in thought. Abrin considered the situation before speaking up. "Let's go to my house. If it's anything like it used to be, it should be just as empty as I left it―a good place to sit and think," Abrin muttered regrettably. Rayn glanced over him with slight compassion. The blond and the red-head agreed as they searched for Abrin's abode. As they walked, it almost appeared as if the city itself dissipated completely into a smaller town. In the distance, a large tree protruded from the earth.

"Wait, what happened to the city?" Deija questioned with utter disbelief at the change of scenery. A nice warm breeze blew at their faces, bringing contentment to Abrin and Rayn. They both turned to Deija.

"Deija, this…" Rayn started.

"…is Tenshi City!" Abrin declared.

* * *

><p>Aya eventually made her way out of the building she was held at. She was actually surprised that no one was there to stop her. Perhaps they were done with her. As much as Aya would've liked to go and find Rayn and the others, she had no idea where she was. It still appeared to be Tenshi City, but no one was around. All of the buildings were a stagnant grey and none of the doors would open after many tries. Aya sighed. "What the heck is this? It's like I entered the Twilight Zone."<p>

"Ah, so you are here," a smooth feminine voice called out. Aya quickly snapped her head around, looking for the vocal culprit. Saving Aya the trouble― because she was having it―the woman leapt down in front of her. Her flawless dark skin covered with an elegant robe surprised Aya. Her brown eyes seemed as if she had seen the worlds and everything in them. They were filled with wisdom. She had braided black hair that was looped with a white ribbon. The woman couldn't have been a minute older than thirty, if even that. The knowing look in the woman's eye entranced Aya. She then shook her head. People she has met lately have been a little off. Knowing her luck, the woman was probably evil. The woman, however, greeted her with a warm smile.

"Who are you?" Aya questioned, easing a bit at the woman's calm demeanor. She stopped to think, and then smiled.

"I go by many names, but I prefer that you call me Popura."

"Popura…that's a strange name." Aya stated, testing out the name.

Popura slightly frowned. "You sure are blunt, aren't you?"

Aya laughed sheepishly. "But you're very pretty!" she tried to save.

Popura shook her head. "That's not why I brought you here," Popura said, not showing any difference in expression and getting straight to the point.

Aya glanced back at the buildings surrounding them. "Where exactly is 'here'?" Aya wondered.

"An illusion? A figment of your imagination? Both may as well be true," Popura answered.

Aya however, wasn't satisfied with the answer. "An illusion? You mean this isn't really happening?" she wondered.

"It depends on how you perceive this meeting," Popura stated wryly. Aya crossed her arms; she didn't mind open answers, but the answer didn't really get her anywhere. "Have you ever heard of the Elemental Inception?" Popura asked seemingly out of nowhere.

Aya lifted her eyebrow in confusion. "Elemental Inception?" Aya mused, answering her question with a 'no'.

Popura found a nearby bench and sat down, motioning Aya to do the same. "I'll explain, so listen closely. In certain worlds, it's believed that the worlds and the universe began with just one element: aether. The element with the desire to be known manifested itself into one world. The access aether created beings similar to humans. These 'humans' had every physical attribute alike, including their uncanny quench for power and to rule. The world went to war for power that lied in the center of the world. In a last minute effort to scatter its power, the world separated its power into four new elements: water, earth, fire, and air. It's said that the aether had the raw ability to open the door to darkness, Kingdom Hearts. That ability, however, was divided once the four new elements manifested themselves into four worlds of their own."

Popura paused; making sure that Aya was still paying attention. Aya sat still, listening intently to the woman. Popura continued, "The four elemental worlds each designated a representative to personify its power; one for each of the elements. These representatives are said to be able to unlock the world of aether's true potential, and ultimately, Kingdom Hearts."

"What are the names of these worlds?" Aya questioned.

Popura smiled. "There really is no name for these beginning worlds. Inhabitants of the worlds may have specific names for them," Popura answered.

Aya sat and thought for a moment. "You said that these elements created these things…like it were alive itself," Aya mused.

Popura extended her hand palm up. "The elements themselves have a sort of breathing nature to them. Each possesses qualities that pertain to life." An orb of water appeared in her hand. "Water: it manifests the feeling of deep emotional feelings, a nurturing atmosphere, sympathetic and empathetic, imaginative and intuitive. It also holds jealousy, cold behavior, overly sensitive and irrational thinking." The water evaporated as a small fireball appeared. "Fire: practically life itself. It yields enthusiasm, passion, rebellion, and extroversion. It may also be uncontrollable, hot tempered and apparently angry." The fire went blew out as a circle of wind took its place. "Air: kind, intellectual, and very social. It can also be selfish, inconsiderate, and vicious." The air died down as a block of earth placed itself in her hand. "Earth: notably hard working, wise, brave, and patient. It can also be stubborn, near-sighted, and very harsh." The earth turned to dirt in her hand and she wiped it away.

"As you can see, these elements are much more than what you can see; it's also what you feel," Popura concluded.

"Why are you telling me this?" Aya asked with almost a tone of disbelief.

Popura sighed. "Who knows? This could just be a figment of your imagination. How you handle this information is up to you," Popura stated vaguely. With that, she dissipated completely.

Aya leaned on the bench and closed her eyes. "Popura…such a weird name."

* * *

><p>Abrin, Rayn, and Deija fended off the Heartless that had appeared in the neighborhood. Abrin huffed as he cut a Heartless in two with his Keyblade. "I know I haven't been home in a while, but it really shouldn't take this long to find this house!" Abrin complained.<p>

Rayn sighed. "It wouldn't take this long if all these Heartless weren't everywhere," Rayn stated. Despite Abrin and Rayn's demeanor, Deija could sense the two's uneasiness. They had already lost their world to the Heartless once, she was sure they didn't want it to happen again.

After taking out what seemed like dozens of Heartless, Abrin finally stopped in front of a house. It was small, barely big enough to house one person. He stared at the place blankly. "Here it is," he finally announced.

Deija took a closer look. "This is your house? Not much to it, huh?" Deija pointed out. Just as quickly as she said it, she covered her mouth. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean─"

"It's alright. I often think the same thing," he assured as he opened the door. Rayn and Deija followed him into the house. The inside appeared to be as a regular home would: a living space with a couch and such, two or three rooms, a small kitchen, and stairs leading to what was most likely an attic. Despite its "normal" look, the feeling of loneliness lingered in the air. A reminiscent feeling filled Abrin's mind. "Just like I left it."

The three walked into the living room and sat on the couch. "Alright, first order of business; where could Aya be?" Rayn questioned. "It's obvious that Rin had something to do with it," he added as an afterthought.

"She couldn't have gotten far. It seems like there's a barrier around this part of Tenshi City too," Deija told them.

Abrin cast a curious glance at Deija. "How do you know these things?" he wondered.

She grinned. "My teacher taught me to read the magic in the area in different forms. She was really pretty," she idolized.

"What was her name?" Rayn asked.

"Her name is the Wise Fountain! But she insists that I call her Popura," she answered.

Rayn mused. "Popura? That's an…unusual name," Rayn stated sheepishly, being careful not to insult Deija's teacher.

Deija in turn smiled. "It is, isn't it?" she said warmly. Rayn smiled back. "She was the one who told me that I'll meet some people who would help me," she told them.

This took the two boys by surprise. "She knew about us?" Abrin questioned incredulously.

Deija nodded. "Of course, she can predict the future you know." Rayn and Abrin sweat dropped. _'Is she serious?'_ they wondered. Deija stood up from the couch and stretched. "I bet if we find her, she can find Aya!"

Rayn and Abrin gave this a bit of consideration before the former sighed. "It's the best lead we have. I'd say it's worth a try," Rayn admitted. Abrin crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. They weren't getting anywhere by staying there. As the three left the house, it was apparent that the Heartless count increases by at least two times the amount from what they last seen. Abrin promptly summoned his Keyblade and started swinging at them.

"More of these things? Gross…" Deija muttered with disgust. Abrin took the teeth of the Keyblade and hooked it onto one of the Heartless. He then swung it around into another one. Rayn took his staff and spun it around his body skillfully, taking out some of Abrin's unfinished Heartless. He then used the staff to spring him into the air and over a larger Heartless which he gave an amped up Blizzard spell. He assumed it had become Blizzara.

Abrin and Rayn leapt back to back with each other. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" Abrin wondered.

Rayn sighed with slight amusement. "You learn a lot when you're on your own," Rayn answered. Deija blasted Heartless with her magic at a distance, not wanting to get in the way.

It was then a voice rang through Abrin's head that stopped him right in his tracks.

"Abby!" a young girl's voice shouted happily. Abrin turned back to see a young girl with the same green eyes as his staring at her. She ran up to him and leapt into his arms, toppling him to the ground. Rayn and Deija stared at him and the young girl over him. Rayn instantly recognized her as did Abrin.

"Tsu-Tsukasa?" Abrin exclaimed in shock at the sight of his younger sister. "Wh-What are you doing here?" he asked skeptically.

Tsukasa smiled. "Because I love you! You left and I didn't see you again."

Abrin stood up. "Tsukasa…" He clenched his Keyblade in his fist and swiped it at her to Rayn and Deija's surprise. The Keyblade however went straight through her, distorting her figure slightly as if she was a hologram. She grinned mischievously as she disappeared. Abrin growled, seething in anger. "Bastard! Show yourself!"

A dark corridor appeared and Kaim stepped through wearing a blank expression. Deija looked at him and slightly blushed. "Who's that?" She asked curiously. Abrin and Rayn glared at him, paying little attention to Deija's red face.

"Kaim, are you responsible for Tsukasa?" Rayn asked. "Or better yet, her image?"

Kaim scoffed. "So what if I am? I just thought I'd give Abrin something nice to look at before I kill him," Kaim explained.

Abrin lowered himself into an offensive stance. "You? Kill me? Sorry, but that won't work for my schedule. I've got a sister to save and imps like you to beat!" Abrin retaliated. Kaim showed no change in emotion, irritating Abrin. _'He's acting a lot like Celeste…'_ Abrin thought.

"We can avoid this if you come back silently," Kaim proposed.

Abrin sneered. "Why, so you can kill me for leaving? I think I'll pass." Kaim growled as he summoned his weapon. Behind him, an even larger Heartless appeared. The Heartless had large hoops around its wrists that it was swinging in a circle. It had one leg that it was balancing on. It appeared to wear a dark purple mask with the trademark Heartless sign on its body. Deija stepped back while Rayn readied his staff.

"Abrin, what do you want to do?" Rayn wondered, giving Abrin leadership in the fight.

Abrin continued to glare at Kaim. "I'll take care of him. You and Deija take care of the Heartless and make sure it stays out of my way!" Abrin commanded. Rayn nodded as he dashed for the large Heartless named Circus Freak. Deija followed him while minding to keep her distance.

That left Kaim and Abrin to themselves and each other. Kaim took the initiative in the battle and launched himself towards Abrin. The bluenette in turn leapt in the air and stabbed at Kaim from above. Kaim saw this and quickly dodged it with ease, countering with the staff end of his weapon. Abrin flew back at the impact of the staff to his side. Abrin landed on his feet and huffed. He then sent a Thunder spell to Kaim who easily dodged it. The Thunder in turn left a crack in the sidewalk, giving Abrin an idea. His idea was interrupted as Kaim sent his retractable blades around him. As Abrin attempted to dodge it, the blades wrapped around his leg and Kaim sent him flying. Abrin skidded across the ground painfully. Abrin, however, stood up. It was easy to see that Kaim was getting irritated.

"Why don't you just stay down? You're just making this harder for yourself!" he spat.

The young teen across from him however, simply chuckled, surprising Kaim. "You never change, Kaim. No one changes on their own free will or as simply as you make it seem. Knowing that, you should know that I won't ever stop or give up. I hate to lose, you know," Abrin stated. Kaim clenched his fist and darted for him. Abrin barely managed to avoid the attack and received a fresh cut to his leg. Abrin saw this and leapt back.

"You hate to lose…that makes two of us!" Kaim retaliated.

Abrin grinned. "Good, this should be interesting then," Abrin responded. He then frowned. "But I can't keep fighting him like this, he's too fast. I can barely keep up with him." Granted that was true, Ako flew from behind Abrin and shook her head.

"Tsk, Abby. You sound so pitiful. I guess I have no choice but to help you out." Ako, still in her purple outfit, circled around Abrin. "Haste!" she cast.

Abrin looked around as everything seemed to slow down. Figuring it was due to the spell, he smiled. "Thanks, Ako. I owe you one!" he thanked. Ako grinned as she hid behind a street sign. Filled with new resolve, Abrin turned to Kaim. "Alright, let's go!"

* * *

><p>Aya woke up to see that she was sitting in a dark room. There was nothing but darkness. "Where am I now? It's so dull here. I don't like it very much," she stated. She looked around. It felt familiar. "I know this place, but it's so dark. I can't see a thing."<p>

"-ya! A-! Ay-!" Multiple voices called out almost cryptically. For whatever reason, Aya felt calmed by these voices as she seen a light in the distance getting larger. Visions of her friends─ old and new─ played over and over in her mind. She smiled just as the light took over her, finally remembering the place. "I know that place. It was my heart."

"Aya, wake up!" a familiar duck like voice shouted. Aya slowly rose slowly and sleepily from her spot. Standing before her was Sora, Donald, and Goofy. She stretched before realizing where she was. She was sitting on the porch of her old home before it was destroyed.

"Are you okay? How did you fall asleep in a place like this?" Sora asked helping her up. Aya thanked him as she thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine. To be honest though, I don't remember falling asleep. Must have been a long day," Aya brushed off nonchalantly.

"That's good," Sora replied to Aya's first answer. "But we need to find the Keyhole to this place quick!" he urged as Aya let out a yawn.

Goofy nodded before looking over to his right and gasping. "Gawrsh, maybe we should handle that there Heartless first!" Goofy stated. Sora, Donald, and Aya all looked over to see a Heartless that was taller than all of the houses! The tallest houses were only two stories if that tall, but Aya was pretty sure that they shouldn't be that big.

"Are you kidding me? What do these things eat?" Aya questioned.

Sora summoned his Keyblade. "Hearts if we don't hurry!" Sora determined as her started for the Heartless. Aya followed him as did Donald and Goofy.

While they ran, Aya began to become curious. How did they get into Tenshi City? "Hey, Sora, how did you guys get into Tenshi City anyway?" she questioned.

Sora glanced back at her. "The world just appeared and we landed in the Gummi Ship like always!" Sora answered.

Aya shook her head. "No, I mean there was a barrier around this place when we got here. How'd you get through?" she reiterated.

Sora thought about this. "I don't know about any barrier, I guess we're just lucky!" he decided.

Aya sweat dropped. "Luck has nothing to do with it. I'm sure that hair of yours picked up the frequency of this place," Aya jeered.

Sora felt a bit offended. "Enough jokes about my hair!" On their way to stop the Heartless, they were intercepted by another, Rin.

Aya sighed disdainfully. "I can't stand this place. Everywhere I turn there's an ugly toad on the ground. I think it's this place's environment…" Aya insulted referring to Rin.

Rin in turn crossed his arms and grinned. "How cruel, Aya. And here I was just trying to say hi and introduce myself," Rin smirked.

Sora stayed on his guard, noting Aya's hostile atmosphere and his own intuition. "Who are you?" Sora questioned. Rin smirked and disappeared. He reappeared in front of Sora and kicked him. Sora, however, was quick and used his Keyblade to block. Unfortunately the force sent him flying back and landing on his feet.

A barrier appeared around Rin and Aya, much to her disdain. "On second thought, I think I'll skip the formalities. That's not why I came anyway." He turned to face Aya. "I came to test her skills."

"Aya!" Sora cried.

She shook her head. "Go on ahead. I have a feeling that Rayn, Abrin, and Deija are up there. There's nothing you can do for me, so go!" she insisted. Sora nodded and darted off. Aya faced Rin. "Okay, let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>Rayn and Deija were able to keep the Heartless out of Abrin's way─ and that's all they accomplished. The Circus Freak was proving to be more trouble than it was worth.<p>

"Deija! Try sending some ice to slip up that leg of his!" Rayn suggested.

Deija nodded. "Poko ri poko ru─" Just as she began her chant, the one foot of the Heartless transformed into a large circus ball of some sort. The Circus Freak rolled on the ball and attempted to ram into Deija. Luckily for her, Rayn was able to pull her out of the line of fire. Deija sighed, exasperated. "Thanks."

"No problem. But we really need to figure out how to take this thing down." Rayn added. Deija thought for a moment then sighed.

"I got nothing."

Rayn joined her with a sigh. "That doesn't really help…" He shook his head. "Let's keep fighting 'till we figure it out," Rayn suggested. Deija agreed. Rayn used his staff to swipe at the Circus Freak's new foundation only to find himself bounce back along with all the spells he and Deija sent at it. _'This isn't working. Its bottom is practically invulnerable to physical attacks and magic. Maybe if I tried the face…'_ Rayn contemplated. The Circus Freak however took the hoops and smashed them on the ground, knocking Deija back into a tree. With the two hoops on the ground, the Circus Freak disappeared into one of them. Rayn went to help Deija up― who greatly appreciated it. "Are you okay?" he asked, receiving a positive response. Putting his previous thought into action, he turned to face her. "Deija, I need a boost into the air," he told her.

"But we don't know where it's gonna appear," she opposed. Rayn glanced at the other hoop knowingly. "I have a feeling that it's going to come out of the other hoop. I just need to get high enough to attack it."

Deija grinned. "I can do one better. Poko ri poko ru, fun for me not for you!"

With that, Rayn and many other miscellaneous items began to rise from the ground. Instead of like Abrin, who was pulled into a center magnet, Rayn seemed to just float in the air itself with no real direction. She had cast a zero gravity spell. Rayn smiled. "This is perfect! Good job!" he praised. As if on cue, the Circus Freak appeared from the other hoop as he had suspected. He used the other airborne items to propel himself towards the Heartless. As he attempted to attack its face, the Circus Freak seemed to drastically dodge it. Part of the mask chipped off, causing the Circus Freak to reel back in pain and for Deija to notice.

"Rayn! Attack its mask! That's where it's vulnerable!" Deija realized.

Rayn soon realized for himself. "You're right!" he stated. The Heartless then disappeared back down into one of the hoops.

"Rayn!" a voice Rayn immediately recognized as Sora's called out. Just then, the zero gravity spell wore off, leaving Rayn to land on his feet and defy gravity. Deija looked at him as she stood by Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Uh, you know these guys?" she questioned, slightly deterred by their appearances.

Rayn nodded. "Yeah. This is Sora, Donald, and Goofy," he introduced, pointing to each one respectively.

"We came to help! Aya told us we might find you guys over here," Sora told him, taking Rayn by surprise.

"You saw Aya?" Rayn questioned, only to be interrupted by the Circus Freak as it appeared once again. Rayn gritted his teeth. "Please, aim for the mask!" he told them Sora and the others nodded in understanding.

"Thundaga!" Donald called, sending the powerful thunder attack square in the Circus Freak's face. Deija cast another earth type spell and sent chunks of rocks at it. Thinking fast, Sora latched on to one of the rocks and flew to its face. He let go then landed a heavy combo to its face, successfully breaking of a good portion of its mask. The now disfigured Heartless screeched with ire as its hoops transformed into whips similar to a tightrope. One of the whips wrapped around Rayn like a mummy and quickly unwrapped him, making him dizzy. He wasn't the only one having trouble with them. They were virtually invisible and could attack from anywhere.

Goofy then had an idea. "How about we wrap them whips around somethin' and cut 'em?" He suggested.

Sora smiled at this idea. "That might work!" he agreed.

"I'll get wrapped," Rayn volunteered, "Deija is probably going to have get the person who cuts the rope close to the roots. I'll just have Deija freeze my feet to the ground and to be honest, a staff isn't really good at cutting things." Deija glanced at him while Sora nodded.

"You sure?" Sora assured. Rayn gave an assuring smile. "Alright, I'll cut the whips." As they broke off, Deija cast a blizzard spell to the ground so Rayn could slide across it.

"Hey! Over here!" He shouted, shooting a Blizzara spell at the mask. The Heartless roared with anger as it attempted to grab Rayn, which Rayn allowed him to do. Deija quickly froze his feet to the ground, making it difficult for it to move him. Frustrated, it took the other whip in the same manner, only for Deija and Donald to reinforce the ice on Rayn's feet. "Now!" Rayn signaled, wincing in pain. Deija cast zero gravity as Sora floated up and ran on the tightrope. Once he made it to the top, he took his Keyblade and promptly cut the rope. He then sent a strong Thundara spell to the mask.

"You're done!" he shouted as he broke the rest of the mask. The Heartless bellowed as it dissipated and the heart floated in the sky. Rayn sighed as he fell to his knees and passed out.

* * *

><p>Aya bounced off the barrier that surrounded her and Rin. Rin crossed his arms and shook his head disapprovingly. "Tsk, tsk, Aya. After all that talk earlier about knocking my teeth in, I'm fairly disappointed."<p>

Aya rose to her feet and gripped her two knives tightly in her fists. "That's a bit petty, isn't it? Trying to get back at me for an "empty threat" as you called it?"

Rin smirked at the comment. "As much as I would like to say that this was because of our previous conversation, I was actually sent to do this on business."

Aya lifted an eyebrow. "On business?" she inquired. Rin smiled and ran towards her. He sent a series of punches kicks at her; Aya dodged about one-eighth of them. Aya staggered back; with all the damage she was taking, it was obvious that she had seen better days. She gritted her teeth as she pointed her knives toward him. "Fir―" Before she could get the spell out, a knife flew past her face, just barely missing a direct impact with her face. Surprised, Aya stopped.

Rin lowered the barrier around them. "This is just sad. I suppose you didn't have formal training like the rest of them, but still…" He shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps I should just finish you off right now―" Before he could finish his thought, a gust of wind that felt like a bullet shot past his face. Rin stopped his assault on Aya and turned to see a man that appeared to be in his early twenties with windswept black hair. The grey colour of his eyes resonated with the two steely guns he held solid in his hands. He wore a white robe over his black and gold edged outfit.

"That's enough, Rin," the man's voice told him in a low yet assertive tone. Aya gazed as he and Rin had a stare-off.

Finally, Rin sighed as he placed his hands in his pockets. "You should've known I wasn't going to do anything being as intelligent as you are, Cyclone," Rin told him._'Another one of those nicknames. Could he be one of the other three Rin was talking about?'_ Aya wondered in thought. Rin smiled. "I haven't seen you in a while. How's traveling the worlds going for you?" he asked, making suspicious small talk. When the man didn't answer, Rin smirked. "You're gonna have to come back eventually."

The man leered at him with a cold stare. "I don't work for anyone besides myself," he explained clearly. As they continued talking, Aya tried to quietly lift herself off the ground and sneak away. _'I don't have time for this.'_ She sighed. _'I swear, guys talk way more than girls do.'_ While she was unsuccessfully attempting her escape, Aya heard something interesting.

"I see…perhaps if you were to come back for the Hurricane and the Earthquake, then the key…" Rin started. He then noticed Aya listening and smiled. "But there are too many ears around here. Why don't we take this conversation elsewhere?" He opened a dark corridor and stepped through. Before the man followed, he rolled a small bottle of yellow liquid towards Aya, then stepped through himself. Aya took caution while reaching for the bottle. Not sensing any harm, Aya popped open the cap and gulped down the foreign liquid. After a few seconds passed, Aya could feel her energy and magic being restored. She dropped the bottle in a nearby trash can―because she never littered―and instinctively dashed Sora and the others. _'The Cyclone…thanks, I owe you one!'_

* * *

><p>Kaim was startled by how quickly Abrin was moving compared to earlier. Abrin relentlessly assaulted Kaim with strikes from his Keyblade along with kicks charged with electricity. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Deija approached the two, leaving Rayn by a nearby tree. Abrin however, raised his hand.<p>

"Don't jump in. This is _our_ fight," he stated.

Deija stepped forward in protest only to be stopped by Sora. "We have to trust in him. Let's do our part and keep these Heartless at bay!" Sora told her. Deija, although dismayed, nodded in understanding. They stepped back, respecting Abrin's wishes.

Kaim scoffed. "Refusing help? You're just as stubborn as you used to be," he admitted.

Abrin smirked at the comment. "Refusing help? Maybe, but all the help I need is right behind you!" Kaim stood in confusion until he turned to see Aya leaping behind him, smashing her fists to the side of his head. Kaim fell to the ground, stunned by the sneak attack.

Aya paced over to Abrin with a sigh of almost defeat. "I have got a lot to tell you guys," she muttered. Abrin glanced at her and nodded slowly.

Kaim came to his feet and shot a glare at Aya. "Well if it isn't Ms. Amnesia. Taking your time looking for your─"

"I already remember, Kaim. And I know it's not fair to you, but I've known for a long time now, even before the last time I seen you," Aya stated matter-of-factly.

Kaim seemed taken aback. "What?" he muttered with confusion.

Aya, however, made no attempt to clear the air. "I know you must feel pretty with it, but why did you take my necklace?" Aya questioned.

"Oh right!" Abrin realized. "He and Celeste did want those necklaces, but what for?" Abrin wondered.

Kaim looked at the two before shaking his head. "That doesn't matter anymore. The Nobodies gave me a new start. A shot for impassiveness," said the melancholic Kaim. He then glared at the two teens that stood in his way. "I was trying to bring Abrin back, but if I have to take you out then I have no problem!" Kaim shouted as he pierced the ground with his weapon. Just as he did that, the ground below began to shake and break apart. Kaim, surprised, was unable to find stable ground and ultimately fell into the gaping hole that was now in the ground.

Abrin grinned at his former friend. "It seems like you forgot the geography of this place. The foundation was built over that of an ancient civilization, one that specializes in traps. Just one thunder spell was enough to reactivate it." Kaim growled‒remembering that Abrin had used a thunder spell that apparently missed him on purpose‒while Aya seemed mildly impressed.

"Wow, you remember that? I thought you always slept in class," Aya brought up.

"Yeah, I accidently paid attention that day," he told her proudly. Aya sweat dropped. Kaim stood in the crater, shaking with built up anger.

He then shot a menacing glare towards Aya. "This is all your fault! This wouldn't have happened if you didn't mess with the darkness!" Kaim accused.

"But I‒" Aya started.

"I can't stand you, I even hate you! You ruined everything, so I'm going to kill you with my own hands!" Aya stepped back, obviously hurt.

"Kaim!" Abrin shouted defensively.

Aya stood in silence before clenching her fists. "I'm tired of this. Tired of losing friends, people being after me, and tired of you!" Aya blurted out.

Kaim widened his eyes slightly, seemingly startled by the afterthought. "People after you…? Don't flatter yourself! I'm no longer after-" he muttered incredulously.

"I'm not talking about you!" Aya swiftly retaliated. After staring at Aya confusingly for a few moments, he created at dark corridor and walked through.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Abrin was on the verge of jumping into the crater when Aya stopped him.

"Don't be stupid, he's gone and you know it." Aya told him. Abrin went to protest before seeing the contrite look on her face. He decided to keep quiet.

"All we have to do know is seal the Keyhole. Didn't think I'd be doing that this time around," Sora stated, thinking about how he had to unlock paths with the Keyholes lately. Abrin glanced at him and nodded. He'd get his chance to pay Kaim back. The group began a mad dash for the keyhole, leaving poor Deija to carry the still unconscious Rayn.

"Where's the Keyhole?" Donald questioned.

Aya glared ahead and pointed. "That huge ass tree. It should be there," she informed almost begrudgingly. Listening to Aya's directions, the group soon made it to the benevolent tree that was swirling around with darkness. Sora summoned his Keyblade, prompting the Keyhole to appear. Sora leapt back and locked it, granting them the famous locking sound. The Heartless around instantly disappeared as the sky began to clear. Deija and the others sighed with relief, leaving Aya to stare solemnly at the sky. Rayn stirred as he opened his eyes slightly.

"You guys did it, good job," he complimented as he steadied himself. He then turned to Aya and frowned.

"So, where are you guys heading to next?" Abrin asked Sora.

Sora shrugged his shoulders, wondering that himself. "I guess to the next world that comes up! I have to beat the Organization so I can go back home with my friend," he answered wistfully. He then realized that he hadn't introduced himself to Abrin. "Are you a friend of Aya's? The name's Sora!" he greeted.

"Donald!" said the duck while pushing Sora's head down.

Goofy then tripped over both of them, causing them to fall. "I'm Goofy!" He smiled.

Abrin sweat-dropped. "Uh, Abrin," he stated. Rayn quickly diffused the misunderstanding Sora had once he realized that it was Abrin who had attacked Aya some time ago.

Aya looked at them and crossed her arms. "Thanks for helping our home, but there really isn't anything left to do here. We should all get going," she insisted. Not without suspicion, Sora and the others agreed, leaving for their respective ships. Aya held up Abrin and Rayn, not knowing where Deija went. "There's one more thing I gotta do here." The two boys slowly nodded as they followed her down their old streets. Aya stopped them as she entered a house.

"This is…her house." Rayn put simply.

Abrin looked away. "It's been two years since she's been home. Her mom's been sick for a while. You don't think―"

Before he could finish his thought, Aya walked out of the house with a single tear running down her face and a piece of paper in hand. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>A.N- And there you have it! Sorry it took so long to update. I went and lost my flash drive again. -_- Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter and review! Bye Mee! ^o^<strong>


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